To me, Matt Breida looks like one of the more underrated running backs. There’s risk involved, but he’s made a lot of big plays.
San Francisco’s backfield, of course, is jumbled. But it’s looking like Jerick McKinnon might spend a good chunk of the season on injured reserve. Tevin Coleman hasn’t proven he can be a heavy-duty workhorse-type back. In that offense, some unheralded nobody could pop up, but Breida looks pretty good to me.
He was effective last year, busting off big gains better than any other running back in the league.
Breida averaged 5.3 yards per attempt last year, with 10 runs of 20-plus yards. Among those with at least 100 attempts, and only one other running back gained 20-plus yards on over 6 percent of his carries – Saquon Barkley.
| PERCENTAGE OF 20-YARD RUNS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | 20+ | Pct |
| Matt Breida, SF | 153 | 814 | 5.3 | 3 | 10 | 6.5% |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 261 | 1,307 | 5.0 | 11 | 16 | 6.1% |
| Nick Chubb, CLE | 192 | 996 | 5.2 | 8 | 11 | 5.7% |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 175 | 885 | 5.1 | 10 | 9 | 5.1% |
| Kerryon Johnson, DET | 118 | 641 | 5.4 | 3 | 6 | 5.1% |
| Tevin Coleman, ATL | 167 | 800 | 4.8 | 4 | 8 | 4.8% |
| Joe Mixon, CIN | 237 | 1,168 | 4.9 | 8 | 11 | 4.6% |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 256 | 1,251 | 4.9 | 17 | 11 | 4.3% |
| Latavius Murray, MIN | 140 | 578 | 4.1 | 6 | 6 | 4.3% |
| Isaiah Crowell, NYJ | 143 | 685 | 4.8 | 6 | 6 | 4.2% |
| James Conner, PIT | 215 | 973 | 4.5 | 12 | 9 | 4.2% |
| Phillip Lindsay, DEN | 192 | 1,037 | 5.4 | 9 | 8 | 4.2% |
| Kareem Hunt, KC | 181 | 824 | 4.6 | 7 | 7 | 3.9% |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 106 | 554 | 5.2 | 3 | 4 | 3.8% |
| Ezekiel Elliott, DAL | 304 | 1,434 | 4.7 | 6 | 11 | 3.6% |
| Marlon Mack, IND | 195 | 908 | 4.7 | 9 | 7 | 3.6% |
| Josh Adams, PHI | 120 | 511 | 4.3 | 3 | 4 | 3.3% |
| Kenyan Drake, MIA | 120 | 535 | 4.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.3% |
| Chris Carson, SEA | 247 | 1,151 | 4.7 | 9 | 8 | 3.2% |
| Frank Gore, MIA | 156 | 722 | 4.6 | 0 | 5 | 3.2% |
| Aaron Jones, GB | 133 | 728 | 5.5 | 8 | 4 | 3.0% |
| Dalvin Cook, MIN | 133 | 615 | 4.6 | 2 | 4 | 3.0% |
| Gus Edwards, BAL | 137 | 718 | 5.2 | 2 | 4 | 2.9% |
| Lamar Miller, HOU | 210 | 973 | 4.6 | 5 | 6 | 2.9% |
| Christian McCaffrey, CAR | 219 | 1,098 | 5.0 | 7 | 6 | 2.7% |
| Alfred Morris, SF | 111 | 428 | 3.9 | 2 | 3 | 2.7% |
| Mark Ingram, NO | 138 | 645 | 4.7 | 6 | 3 | 2.2% |
| Jordan Howard, CHI | 250 | 935 | 3.7 | 9 | 5 | 2.0% |
| Adrian Peterson, WAS | 251 | 1,042 | 4.2 | 7 | 5 | 2.0% |
| Sony Michel, NE | 209 | 931 | 4.5 | 6 | 4 | 1.9% |
| LeSean McCoy, BUF | 161 | 514 | 3.2 | 3 | 3 | 1.9% |
| Derrick Henry, TEN | 215 | 1,059 | 4.9 | 12 | 4 | 1.9% |
| Mike Davis, SEA | 112 | 514 | 4.6 | 4 | 2 | 1.8% |
| Chris Ivory, BUF | 115 | 385 | 3.3 | 1 | 2 | 1.7% |
| Peyton Barber, TB | 234 | 871 | 3.7 | 5 | 4 | 1.7% |
| Royce Freeman, DEN | 130 | 521 | 4.0 | 5 | 2 | 1.5% |
| Leonard Fournette, JAX | 133 | 439 | 3.3 | 5 | 2 | 1.5% |
| LeGarrette Blount, DET | 154 | 418 | 2.7 | 5 | 2 | 1.3% |
| Dion Lewis, TEN | 155 | 517 | 3.3 | 1 | 2 | 1.3% |
| Doug Martin, OAK | 172 | 723 | 4.2 | 4 | 2 | 1.2% |
| T.J. Yeldon, JAX | 104 | 414 | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 1.0% |
| Jamaal Williams, GB | 121 | 464 | 3.8 | 3 | 1 | 0.8% |
| David Johnson, ARI | 258 | 940 | 3.6 | 7 | 2 | 0.8% |
| Carlos Hyde, 2 tm | 172 | 571 | 3.3 | 5 | 1 | 0.6% |
| Alvin Kamara, NO | 194 | 883 | 4.6 | 14 | 1 | 0.5% |
| Alfred Blue, HOU | 150 | 499 | 3.3 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Alex Collins, BAL | 114 | 411 | 3.6 | 7 | 0 | 0.0% |
Breida did the same kind of things in the passing game. Among running backs with at least 25 receptions, he was one of only two to gain 20-plus yards on over 15 percent of his catches.
| PERCENTAGE OF 20-YARD RECEPTIONS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD | 20+ | Pct |
| Kareem Hunt, KC | 26 | 378 | 14.5 | 7 | 7 | 26.9% |
| Matt Breida, SF | 27 | 261 | 9.7 | 2 | 5 | 18.5% |
| Kyle Juszczyk, SF | 30 | 324 | 10.8 | 1 | 4 | 13.3% |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 39 | 404 | 10.4 | 3 | 5 | 12.8% |
| Tarik Cohen, CHI | 71 | 725 | 10.2 | 5 | 9 | 12.7% |
| Dalvin Cook, MIN | 40 | 305 | 7.6 | 2 | 5 | 12.5% |
| David Johnson, ARI | 50 | 446 | 8.9 | 3 | 6 | 12.0% |
| Wendell Smallwood, PHI | 28 | 230 | 8.2 | 2 | 3 | 10.7% |
| Christian McCaffrey, CAR | 107 | 867 | 8.1 | 6 | 11 | 10.3% |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 50 | 490 | 9.8 | 4 | 5 | 10.0% |
| Tevin Coleman, ATL | 32 | 276 | 8.6 | 5 | 3 | 9.4% |
| James Conner, PIT | 55 | 497 | 9.0 | 1 | 5 | 9.1% |
| Alvin Kamara, NO | 81 | 709 | 8.8 | 4 | 7 | 8.6% |
| Duke Johnson, CLE | 47 | 429 | 9.1 | 3 | 4 | 8.5% |
| Todd Gurley, LA | 59 | 580 | 9.8 | 4 | 5 | 8.5% |
| Aaron Jones, GB | 26 | 206 | 7.9 | 1 | 2 | 7.7% |
| Jaylen Samuels, PIT | 26 | 199 | 7.7 | 3 | 2 | 7.7% |
| Kenyan Drake, MIA | 53 | 477 | 9.0 | 5 | 4 | 7.5% |
| Jamaal Williams, GB | 27 | 210 | 7.8 | 0 | 2 | 7.4% |
| Jalen Richard, OAK | 68 | 607 | 8.9 | 0 | 5 | 7.4% |
| T.J. Yeldon, JAX | 55 | 487 | 8.9 | 4 | 4 | 7.3% |
| LeSean McCoy, BUF | 34 | 238 | 7.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.9% |
| Giovani Bernard, CIN | 35 | 218 | 6.2 | 0 | 2 | 5.7% |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 91 | 721 | 7.9 | 4 | 5 | 5.5% |
| Devontae Booker, DEN | 38 | 275 | 7.2 | 0 | 2 | 5.3% |
| Ezekiel Elliott, DAL | 77 | 567 | 7.4 | 3 | 4 | 5.2% |
| Dion Lewis, TEN | 59 | 400 | 6.8 | 1 | 3 | 5.1% |
| Nyheim Hines, IND | 63 | 425 | 6.7 | 2 | 3 | 4.8% |
| Joe Mixon, CIN | 43 | 296 | 6.9 | 1 | 2 | 4.7% |
| Ito Smith, ATL | 27 | 152 | 5.6 | 0 | 1 | 3.7% |
| James White, NE | 87 | 751 | 8.6 | 7 | 3 | 3.4% |
| Kerryon Johnson, DET | 32 | 213 | 6.7 | 1 | 1 | 3.1% |
| Phillip Lindsay, DEN | 35 | 241 | 6.9 | 1 | 1 | 2.9% |
| Jacquizz Rodgers, TB | 38 | 304 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 2.6% |
| Chris Thompson, WAS | 41 | 268 | 6.5 | 1 | 1 | 2.4% |
| Theo Riddick, DET | 61 | 384 | 6.3 | 0 | 1 | 1.6% |
| Javorius Allen, BAL | 35 | 196 | 5.6 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Mike Davis, SEA | 34 | 214 | 6.3 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Lamar Miller, HOU | 25 | 163 | 6.5 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
To me, Breida looks like a nice value in the second half of drafts. He’ll be chosen as a 3rd, 4th or 5th running back, but there’s some potential to get starter-caliber numbers in a lot of games.
—Ian Allan