JaMycal Hasty Needs to be 49ers' Featured Running Back With Mostert Out
Winning against the Rams on Sunday Night Football was a huge morale boost and season-saver for the 49ers.
But in typical 49ers fashion, a win always comes at the cost of one of their key players.
Star running back Raheem Mostert has found himself bitten by the injury bug once again this season. This time he has suffered a high ankle sprain, which will see him get placed on the short-term Injured Reserve.
Losing Mostert a huge loss for the 49ers as he is the engine of the offense. Just look at how stagnate the 49ers became once Mostert was out for the third-quarter. Jerick McKinnon, as great of a comeback as he is having, isn't a sufficient fill-in for Mostert as a running back. He just lacks the explosiveness and decisiveness to hit the holes.
Without Mostert, the 49ers lose a crucial player that fully optimizes their offense. However, there is one player that nearly replicates the impact of Mostert: undrafted free agent JaMycal Hasty.
Hasty needs to be 49ers' featured running back with Mostert out
As soon as Kyle Shanahan finally realized that McKinnon was not getting it done for the offense, he inserted Hasty in the fourth-quarter of the game. And boy, was he a massive upgrade from McKinnon.
“I just like he came in the game and the moment wasn't too big for him," said Shanahan about Hasty's performance at his presser on Monday. "We like to keep our guys fresh. Once we lost Raheem, Jet had been going for a while, it was a perfect time to change the pace and bring in a fresh guy. He was the guy that we had left and he came in and was ready for the occasion.
"He looked good in practice. Did a good job, I believe, with the Giants when he got a couple opportunities. So, we didn't hesitate to put him in there. It took a while until we lost those guys, but when he came in and gave us a little bit of a spark and helped us out.”
Hasty was one of the most impressive players throughout training camp. The guy was always ripping off at least a couple of homerun plays every practice. He just looks like a veteran out there.
To me, he looks like Mostert 2.0.
He is patient, has superb vision and the shiftiness to bob and weave between all of the blocking bodies. Plus, anytime he gets a carry there is always a chance of him ripping off a massive gain. What makes Hasty such a successful runner is similar to what makes Mostert one. You cannot say that about McKinnon or Jeff Wilson Jr., who Shanahan will most likely end up utilizing the most in Week 7 against the Patriots.
Hasty received only nine carries against the Rams, but it is nine clutch carries that allowed the 49ers to control the time of possession once again. Hasty was the reason the 49ers put the game on ice in the fourth-quarter. He allowed the 49ers to have a running threat. This is a player that is only going to get better with the more opportunities he receives.
If Shanahan wants his offense to continue to build off of their success in Week 6, then he will need to feature Hasty while Mostert is on the mend.
