When you think about the 49ers' running back room entering 2025, Israel Abanikanda isn't the first name that comes to mind.
The San Francisco 49ers have to be stoked at recent news surrounding All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, who appears poised to bounce back after a frustrating injury-riddled 2024 campaign that limited him to a mere four games.
With McCaffrey fully healthy, the Niners hope to avoid serious attrition at the position, which they endured to a massive extent a year ago.
Part of that alleviation included an in-season move that flew under the radar, claiming a relatively unknown tailback in Israel Abanikanda off waivers from the New York Jets in early December.
Yet Abanikanda, a fifth-round draftee of the Jets back in 2023, never got into a game with San Francisco his first season in the Bay Area, and he only saw action in six contests his rookie season with New York.
Might that change in 2025, especially given some of the notable changes the 49ers made behind McCaffrey during the offseason?
49ers' offseason roster moves open up door for Israel Abanikanda
Coming over from the Jets means Abanikanda preceded the return of New York's head coach, Robert Saleh, returning to the Niners as their defensive coordinator. While the opposite sides of the ball are notable, Saleh can't be disgruntled at having one of his former players in the building.
San Francisco cleared out its running back room to a major extent, too, bidding farewell to a 2021 leading rusher in Elijah Mitchell before trading away McCaffrey's primary backup from a year ago, Jordan Mason, to the Minnesota Vikings after the latter's career-best year.
That effectively leaves McCaffrey, second-year pro Isaac Guerendo, 2025 rookie draftee Jordan James, undrafted rookie Corey Kiner and special teams ace Patrick Taylor Jr. in the way of Abanikanda securing a roster spot.
The 5-foot-10, 216-pound rusher out of Pittsburgh carries zero in guaranteed money on the remainder of his inherited post-waiver-claim contract, and the 49ers could part ways with him at any point with zero in dead money, according to Over the Cap, meaning Abanikanda's would-be spot on the regular-season 53-man roster is anything but safe.
The Niners likely keep no more than four halfbacks on their regular-season squad to open up 2025, and McCaffrey is an obvious one, while both James and Guerendo are just shy of being absolute locks.
Abanikanda would likely have to beat out Taylor and Kiner to stand a remote chance, which isn't out of the question but also not guaranteed either. Even a strong preseason campaign from the former might not be anything more than saving the other rushers' proverbial "gas tanks" for games that actually count.
If Abanikanda doesn't carve out a niche, the former Jet, turned Niner, might find himself in journeyman status, bouncing around the league on whichever teams need him at that specific moment.
Just like San Francisco needed him a year ago.
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