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Former 49ers Running Back Returns After Three Years with the Dolphins

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Nov 27, 2022; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (23) takes the field prior to a game against the Houston Texans at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Nov 27, 2022; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (23) takes the field prior to a game against the Houston Texans at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers just signed one of their former running backs.

No, not Roger Craig or Ricky Watters or Garrison Hearst or Frank Gore or Carlos Hyde or Jerick McKinnon or Tevin Coleman, although technically they're all available. Instead, the 49ers signed Jeff Wilson Jr., according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Wilson Jr. probably won't make the 49ers' 53-man roster. He's almost 30, he carried the ball just 16 times last season and broke zero tackles. He's not the player he was when he was on the 49ers the first time from 2018 to 2022. He's nearing the end of his career.

Miami Dolphins running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (23) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Sta
Aug 23, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (23) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Last week, the 49ers worked out Wilson Jr., but ultimately decided to sign veteran running back Ameer Abdullah instead, because Abdullah has a bit more juice left in his legs than Wilson Jr. does. But Abdullah left Saturday night's preseason loss to the Broncos with a rib injury, and those can take weeks to heal. Which means the 49ers need another body at running back just to get through the rest of training camp and the preseason.

Besides Wilson Jr., the only healthy running backs on the 49ers' 90-man roster are Corey Kiner, Patrick Taylor Jr. and Christian McCaffrey, who probably won't play in the preseason. Which means Kiner and Taylor Jr. would have to take all the reps if the 49ers hadn't signed Wilson Jr. So he's here to keep the other running back fresh and healthy.

If Wilson Jr. makes the 53-man roster at the end of the month, that would mean the 49ers are extremely banged up. They want Isaac Guerendo and Jordan James to be key contributors this season, but both are injured. Guerendo in particular seems to be injury-prone, and James is a rookie. He might not contribute much right away if he misses preseason.

San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan James (29) runs through an obstacle course during the second day of training camp. Ma
Jul 24, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan James (29) runs through an obstacle course during the second day of training camp. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Right now, the 49ers' backup running back is Taylor Jr., who's 27 and is similar to Wilson Jr.. They're both upright runners who run extremely hard. Taylor Jr. is just a younger, bigger version. And on Saturday night, Taylor Jr. had a nice touchdown run against the Broncos starting defense. If he stays healthy, he seems like the favorite to be McCaffrey's backup all season. He's the closest thing they have to Jordan Mason on the roster.

This week, the 49ers will have two practices in Santa Clara, then they'll fly to Henderson, Nevada, and practice against the Raiders once and play a preseason game against them as well. They'll need Wilson Jr. to hit the ground running so the rest of the running backs don't wear down.

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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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