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All the focus in San Francisco this week is on the Super Bowl, but the 49ers will have their sights set squarely on next season.
The first order of business? New head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke need to look at their own roster and make a plan to address their needs in either the draft or free agency.
Where Jarryd Hayne fits in those plans is still wide open.
In an interview with Fairfax media, Baalke left the door open for Hayne next season, saying “the biggest jump for a player is between year one and year two. We expect the same for Jarryd”, while praising the former rugby league star’s work ethic and commitment to succeed.
Sentiment aside, Hayne faces an uphill battle after his performances this season.
Initial flashes of brilliance in the preseason were soon overshadowed by costly mistakes in the regular season, as he finished the year with three fumbles (one lost).
In the running game he didn’t fare much better. In a total of 17 attempts he gained just 52 yards, an average of 3.1 yard a carry. In the NFL, where the competition for roster spots is fierce, that sort of production isn’t good enough. This became evident when he was dropped from the 52 man squad midseason, a decision Baalke said was made to “give [the 49ers] the best chance of winning football games.”
To Hayne’s credit, he seems aware of the tough road ahead, tweeting out “No promise of tomorrow, but I’ll focus on today and do my best for tomorrow…” in reference to Baalke’s comments.
Read it!! Great article. No promise of tomorrow, but I'll focus on today and do my best for tomorrow… https://t.co/FJTyXfjPsL
— jarryd hayne (@JarrydHayne) January 31, 2016
Of course, any predictions on Hayne’s future are premature at this stage. NFL teams will spend the next few months navigating the free agent market, while spending every waking minute evaluating the next crop of talent coming through the NFL draft in April. It won’t be until after the free agency and the draft that we will be able to see which way Kelly and Baalke are going with Hayne, and it won’t be until July that we start to know for sure.
What we can say is that for Hayne to make his NFL dream come true he’s going to have to show a lot of improvement between now and the final roster decision – and by the sounds of it, Baalke and the Niners will give him an opportunity to do so.
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