George Kittle has a new label for the 49ers’ ground game, and it fits the way San Francisco handled the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday.
“It’s called ‘Dash Bros,’” Kittle said Thursday.
The nickname is built around the pre-snap movement that helped power the 49ers to a 27-7 win and a rushing average of 5.8 yards per carry. In San Francisco’s version of the “dash” motion, Kittle or fullback Kyle Juszczyk starts moving into the backfield before the snap, forcing the defense to adjust on the fly and sort out new gaps and responsibilities. Sometimes that movement even flips direction right as the ball is snapped.
The 49ers leaned on that look heavily against the Rams, using pre-snap motion on 24 of their 30 runs. Those plays produced 6.4 yards per carry, and San Francisco opened the season ranked first in running game success rate at 57%.
Kittle admitted the motions are effective even if they’re not exactly his style.
“They’re not my favorite, but they’re very effective,” Kittle said. “So I just put my pride aside and just do them. ...
I just don’t like cutting and running that much. I like lining up and hitting people in the face.
That’s kind of what I do.”
For the 49ers, the broader point matters more than the nickname. After a 2025 season in which the run game slipped to 30th in the NFL at 3.8 yards per carry, the team spent the offseason trying to get back to what it believes it should be. Head coach Kyle Shanahan, coordinator Klay Kubiak and new run game coordinator Joe Graves all spent time searching for ways to create better lanes for Christian McCaffrey and rookie back Kaelon Black.
“We’re always evaluating our team and trying to stay ahead of things and trying to evolve,” Kubiak said. “(Last year) wasn’t good enough.”
That push included a new workload plan for McCaffrey, who led the NFL with 413 regular season touches last season. He had also led the league in touches in 2019 and 2023, and his availability has been an issue before, with seven games combined in 2020 and 2024.
The 49ers used a third-round pick on Black, and he ended up with four more carries than McCaffrey against the Rams. McCaffrey also dealt with cramps in the first half. Even beyond that, the signs point to San Francisco leaning more heavily on a two-back rushing setup than it has since acquiring McCaffrey midway through 2022.
“I think that’s a big part of it, is (for) the defense, there’s two guys who are going to carry the ball who are a problem,” Kubiak said. “Kaelon’s just been great since he’s been year.
And I think aside from wanting the rotation with Christian to spare him a little bit in the game, we just wanted to get Kaelon touches. He’s a good player, he deserves touches.”
Brock Purdy said the timing required for all that motion takes real work during the week, but he also saw the run-game emphasis show up throughout the offseason program.
“Having Joe Graves come in this offseason, we’ve had some meetings and stuff where it’s like, ‘Hey, this is who we are. This is the Niners standard.
We run the ball and this is how important it is.’” Purdy said.
“It opens up our play (action) pass, drop back passes, all the things. It all ties together for our offense.
So for us, running the ball here is huge.”
San Francisco will try to keep that momentum going Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, who spent the week practicing in Napa after their road loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. The 49ers, though, may have to adjust their backfield plan: Black was added to the injury report Thursday with a groin injury after not appearing on it Wednesday, putting his status in doubt. If he can’t go, Jordan James could step into a larger role after flashing in the preseason but sitting out Week 1.
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