49ers possess RB depth they need behind fragile Christian McCaffrey

Kyle Shanahan doesn’t like tough decisions, at least not when it comes to the position battles that will determine the 49ers’ roster.To that end, San Francisco’s preseason finale Thursday night was a productive one.“I like when guys make it real obvious when you have a position battle,” the head coach said after his team’s 18-12 exhibition win over the Raiders in Las Vegas.“I think guys did some stuff today to make that easier for us.”Shanahan and general manager John Lynch will have approximately 66 hours between the final whistle Thursday night and Sunday’s 3 p.m.

deadline to set their 53-man roster.Here’s what they’ll see when they pore over the tape from the final exhibition game:Christian McCaffrey, like most of the Niners’ starters, didn’t suit up against the Raiders, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t be ready to play Week 1 against the Rams.Even if that weren’t the case, Shanahan should still be feeling confident in his ground game.And that’s a good thing because if McCaffrey is the Niners’ most important player, his backups aren’t far behind, given his checkered health history.Depth here was a real question mark midway through training camp, when all four of their top backs were sidelined.

But Kaelon Black has run well since returning last week, and Jordan James looked explosive in his debut Thursday night with eight carries for 35 yards, including a 17-yarder up the middle, while also turning a screen pass into a 20-yard gain.Shanahan said he was “really excited” to see James, who missed most of his rookie season with a broken finger and a knee injury, and thought he ran “real hard” and “real well.”Pretty good stuff from somebody shaping up to be third on the depth chart, behind McCaffrey (obviously) and Black, the 90th overall selection in this year’s draft who started and hit the showers after four carries for 28 yards on their opening two drives.“We drafted these guys for a reason,” offens...