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The 49ers Sign Cincinnati Running Back Corey Kiner as a UDFA

This is a sneaky good addition.
Grant Cohn|
Nov 30, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back Corey Kiner (21) runs to the 1-yard line against the TCU Horned Frogs in the second quarter at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Albert Cesare/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
Nov 30, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back Corey Kiner (21) runs to the 1-yard line against the TCU Horned Frogs in the second quarter at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Albert Cesare/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images | Albert Cesare/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

This is a sneaky good addition.

The 49ers have signed Cincinnati running back Corey Kiner as an undrafted free agent according to reports. And of the six UDFAs the 49ers have signed so far this year, Kiner might have the best chance to make the 53-man roster at some point in his career.

The 49ers are trying to replace Jordan Mason, who was their leading rusher last season. Mason was an undrafted free agent in 2022 who made a career for himself with his violent, no-nonsense rushing style.

That's why the 49ers drafted Oregon running back Jordan James in Round 5. He's smaller than Mason, but he runs with the same burst, violence and determination.

Kiner is built like James. Both are roughly 5'9" and 205 lbs. Both run a bit faster than a 4.6. Both are good fits in the 49ers zone-blocking scheme.

But while James seeks out contact and tries to run through it, Kiner has an uncanny ability to avoid contact and break tackles. His center of gravity is low, he has terrific vision to spot cutback lanes and he's decisive. You rarely see him hesitate behind the line of scrimmage and you almost never see the first defender bring him down.

Kiner is a classic one-cut running back. He's not flashy which is why he wasn't drafted, but he's the type of diamond in the rough that running backs coach Bobby Turner has found over and over again in his career.

Don't be surprised if Kiner turns out better than James.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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