The 49ers quietly picked up Israel Abanikanda off the waiver wire, and I like the look of that move. While the Jets have concluded that he isn’t NFL material, he might fit better in San Francisco’s system.
Abanikanda, as a refresher, was a fifth-round pick a year ago. He ran for 1,431 yards and 20 touchdowns his final year at Pitt, averaging 6 yards per carry. He never got much traction in New York, in part because he was stuck behind Breece Hall and Braelon Allen.
But I think it makes a ton of sense for the 49ers to kick the tires on him over the final month of the season. As a 215-pounder with speed, I could see him plugging in nicely into their kind of running game. He broke a lot of long runs in college. Abanikanda reportedly ran a 4.44 at his Pro Day but didn’t run at the combine.
Abanikanda has played well enough in the preseason that I’m surprised the Jets didn’t try to do more with him. In six games the last two years, he’s run for 242 yards and 3 TDs, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. He also caught all 7 passes thrown his way, for an additional 51 yards.
I’m not suggesting anyone grab Abanikanda with hopes of him helping their fantasy team this year, but this looks like a good tryout-type addition for the 49ers, gauging whether they might want him on their roster in 2025.
| ABANIKANDA IN THE PRESEASON | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Att | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| 2023 | @ Cleveland | 9 | 27 | 3.0 | 10t | 1 |
| 2023 | @ Carolina | 12 | 56 | 4.7 | 26 | 0 |
| 2023 | Tampa Bay | 4 | 30 | 7.5 | 13 | 0 |
| 2024 | Washington | 6 | 17 | 2.8 | 6 | 1 |
| 2024 | @ Carolina | 6 | 29 | 4.8 | 12 | 0 |
| 2024 | New York Giants | 9 | 83 | 9.2 | 45t | 1 |
—Ian Allan