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While the fumbles and muffed catches on special teams no doubt raised eyebrows on the 49ers’ sideline, there was another crucial error, made by rookie Jarryd Hayne, that had just as much of an influence on the team’s decision to waive him on Sunday morning.
HAYNE DUMPED FROM 49ERS ROSTER
The 49ers announced via Twitter and their website that they had promoted running back Kendall Gaskins to the active roster. The man to make way? The story of the pre-season. One of the nation’s top jersey sellers. Jarryd Hayne.
What a fickle business this NFL is. It had only been 48 hours earlier that some news outlets were trumpeting the possibility that Hayne would be given a second chance, nay a career lifeline, against the St Louis Rams on Monday morning (AEDT).
49ers lead running back Carlos Hyde was struggling with a stress fracture in his foot and would likely miss the next two games. Finally, our Jarryd would get some consistent time with the offence and get a chance to show what he is capable of. All he needs is a chance, Australia begged. And then he was waived. Just like that.
The muffed catch against the Vikings, the only one that resulted in a turnover, the fumble against the Ravens and the mix-up against the Packers were all bad plays. No question. There were always going to be some teething problems with Hayne learning the game, but the 49ers would no doubt be getting fed up with him putting the ball on the ground. It’s inexcusable for a veteran, let alone an undrafted free-agent rookie from Minto.
But I would argue the missed block against the Ravens set off just as many alarm bells in the 49ers’ head office. With the then 1-4 49ers up 16-6 against Baltimore and driving down the field before half-time, Hayne was called in to spell Hyde on third down.
One of the main responsibilities of a third-down back is to pass block, often the situation the team is in calls for a pass to pick up big yardage and move the chains. As a result, opposition defences will often blitz, or bring several defenders at the quarterback, on third down.
So Hayne’s role on third down and long would more often than not be to stay in the backfield to provide an extra blocker. Sometimes after guys block or chip a defensive end or linebacker, they then leak out and become a receiver. It can be a really effective play, suck a bunch of defenders towards the quarterback and then quickly dump the ball off to a speedy player with open space out in front of him. But Hayne’s job on this third down play was more than likely just to pick up a blitzing defender.
He starts off on the right of 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and as the ball is snapped the Ravens bring five defenders. Now Hayne’s job is to impede at least one of them, get in the guy’s way and give Kaepernick a second or two extra to evade the defenders or get rid of the ball. But Hayne looks totally confused, doesn’t take anyone, spins around and looks lost as linebacker Daryl Smith and defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan get through and sack Kaepernick.
While the result of the play, a five-yard loss forcing the 49ers to punt, isn’t the end of the world, it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of Hayne’s talents as a third-down back. So when Hyde was injured, rather than promote Hayne they waived him. They didn’t trust him to protect Kaepernick, the team’s greatest asset (believe it or not).
Let’s not forget Hayne wasn’t dropped for a specialist kick or punt returner, this wasn’t about his skills returning the ball. It was about him playing on offence, picking up blitzes, learning the playbook. It’s the thing critics, including myself, thought he would struggle most with.
The 49ers appeared willing to make him a project player and develop his skills. But after six games, eight carries for 25 yards and eight punt returns for 76 yards that experiment might be over. In San Francisco, anyway.
Hayne has been placed on the waivers for 24 hours, where any of the other 31 teams can claim him. If no one does, then he can stay with the 49ers practice squad or they may release him completely.
HAYNE WAIVED: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
There is a suggestion that waiving Hayne over the weekend means the 49ers are trying to sneak him through waivers so they can sign him to the practice squad.
Either way, it might be a while before we again see Hayne in an NFL jersey.
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