49ers Rookie Leaves Preseason Game on a Cart with a Leg Injury

They can't go a day without at least one player getting injured. They have more than 20 injured player on their roster. Their starting right guard, Dominick Puni, left the game with a knee injury after the first drive. Their backup running back, Isaac Guerendo, has been out for two weeks with a shoulder injury. Their third-string running back, Patrick Taylor Jr., left this game shortly after Puni with a shoulder injury.

Then, undrafted rookie running back Corey Kiner replaced Taylor Jr., carried the ball twice and injured his ankle on his second carry, which was an impressive gain of 19 yards. Kiner stayed on the ground for a couple minutes until the 49ers sent out a cart for him. Then, he got up, walked to the cart under his own power and got wheeled off the field.

Before Kiner went down, he was asserting himself as the second-best running back on the team behind Christian McCaffrey. Guerendo has been injury-prone since college, while Taylor Jr. isn't particularly dynamic -- he's just big.

Meanwhile, Kiner runs hard and is extremely elusive. Not only should he make the 53-man roster, he should play this year when he's healthy. Because starting running back Christian McCaffrey needs a good backup at this stage of his career. The more the 49ers can keep him fresh this season, the better.

Unfortunately for the 49ers, four of McCaffrey's backups currently are injured, and they still have another preseason game to play next week. The best healthy running back on the roster right now, other than McCaffrey, is Jeff Wilson Jr., whom the 49ers signed just last week.

To be fair, Wilson Jr. played for the 49ers from 2018 to 2022, so he knows the system. And as he showed against the Raiders on Saturday, he still runs hard. But he doesn't have the juice or the elusiveness he had a few years ago. That's why the Miami Dolphins didn't want him anymore, even though they need running backs.

If Wilson Jr. has to play meaningful snaps in the regular season, the 49ers are in trouble. They need Kiner to return as soon as possible. Suddenly, he has become one of the most important and intriguing young players on the roster. Now, the 49ers just have to keep him healthy.