In an effort to improve and round out their offense from last season, the San Francisco 49ers signed their second former New York Giants player in a week with the acquisition of running back Brandon Jacobs.
As first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, the 49ers reached a one-year deal with the big back. The New York Daily News later reported that the deal is for a maximum of more than $2 million if he reaches all of his incentives.
Playing second-fiddle to running back Ahmad Bradshaw in New York, the Giants decided to release Jacobs and forgo paying him $4.9 million, which included a $500,000 roster bonus. With the signing of Jacobs and Mario Manningham, the 49ers have plucked two players from the Giants' 2011 Super Bowl-winning team.
With this signing, the 49ers will no longer seek a complementary running back to starter Frank Gore in the draft. This addition now means that Kendall Hunter will serve as the team's change-of-pace back and Jacobs will fill the situational role of a short-yardage and red-zone back, a role Anthony Dixon has struggled in throughout his career. With 56 rushing touchdowns over his seven-year career, including a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns in the 2008 season as the Giants' feature back, Jacobs large frame will be more than suitable in the role.
Including fullbacks, the 49ers now have six backs currently on the roster. While the running backs currently feature Gore, Hunter, Jacobs, and Dixon, the teams seems well set with an athletic blocker in Bruce Miller and recently-signed veteran and special-teams contributor Rock Cartwright from the Oakland Raiders. As the team's roster starts to take shape for 2012, Dixon may be released before the start of next season.
With Jacobs in town, Dixon appears to have little value for the 49ers. As a team that struggled in the red-zone often, Jacobs, unlike Dixon, gives the 49ers a battle-tested scorer in the running game and someone the team can rely on for short conversions. A big reason why Dixon struggled to succeed in the role Jacobs now has is because he was a big back who tried to dance around and make defenders miss rather than plow through in-between the tackles.
Lastly, signing Jacobs gives the 49ers another running back that can help carry the load for Gore if necessary. While Hunter proved to be okay in this role, Jacobs is fully capable in picking up more carries if Gore were to show wear and tear down the stretch or miss games due to injury. As he played in his own running back rotation with the likes of Bradshaw, Derrick Ward, and D.J. Ware over his career, Jacobs should fit in nicely with the improved rotation assembled in San Francisco.
Sources:
@AdamSchefter, Twitter
Brandon Jacobs won't be back with NY Giants; running back signs one-year deal with San Francisco 49ers, New York Daily News
Report: 49ers agree with RB Brandon Jacobs, CSN Bay Area
Brandon Jacobs Career Stats, Yahoo! Sports
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Austin Chang is a lifelong football fan, San Francisco 49ers supporter, and a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow this contributor on Twitter @_austinchang.
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