Jalen Hurd’s preseason debut in Week 1 against the Cowboys last season set the third-round pick’s stock through the roof. He scored two touchdowns and displayed flashes of the versatile skill set that make him such an intriguing prospect. A back injury suffered in practice the following week wound up knocking him out for the season.
Expectations are still high for the running-back-turned-wide-receiver, but they’ve been tempered after San Francisco went to the Super Bowl last season with Hurd essentially absent while nursing his injury the entire year. An Instagram post from the former Baylor receiver should reinvigorate some of the optimism.
He was participating in an offseason workout with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and shared some photos from their session:
These pictures don’t mean that Hurd is back to full strength and ready to step into a prominent role in the offense. However, his work with to build a rapport with Garoppolo is a good start to regaining the momentum he had early last preseason.
Hurd has a long way to go if he’s going to reach the ceiling set for him after the draft. He was a running back at the University of Tennessee before deciding to transfer to the University of Baylor and switch positions. His lone season at receiver was good enough to earn him a third-round selection by the 49ers.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s continued move toward ‘positionless’ football jibes with what Hurd is theoretically capable of. He’s a big receiver with running back experience. A player who can line up at receiver, running back and tight end is the kind of chess piece Shanahan is a master at using to generate confusion and mismatches for the defense.
While Hurd’s start was strong, missing an entire season while still learning the position he’s going to primarily play is a significant setback. He has a tall mountain to climb before carving out that Swiss Army knife role in the 49ers’ offense, but getting some extra work in with Garoppolo while the team is barred from organized in-person activities is a good start.