The 49ers couldn’t have scripted it any better as they emerged from their offseason program: Running back Carlos Hyde emerged healthy.
New coach Chip Kelly’s fast-break offense will lean heavily this season on Hyde, assuming he’s durable enough to lead a unit that’s still unsure whether Blaine Gabbert will outlast Colin Kaepernick for the starting quarterback role.
“I definitely wanted to participate in all these practices, just to see how my foot was going to hold up with all this running and cutting,” Hyde said at the 49ers’ recent minicamp.
“In the beginning, I was sore, but once I got the rust knocked off, I felt great.”
Hyde’s robust comeback is contingent on how his left foot responds to surgery from some six months ago. Hyde started the first seven games last season before succumbing to a left-foot fracture. He still finished as their leading rusher with 470 yards, but it was far from the production they needed out of Frank Gore’s successor.
“He’s another guy that’s put himself in the best position possible,” quarterback Blaine Gabbert said. “He’s going to have a great year for us.”
Running backs coach Tom Rathman agreed, and he expects Hyde to flourish in Kelly’s system the way LeSean McCoy did on Kelly’s Philadelphia Eagles in 2012 (league-high 1,607 rushing yards) and 2013 (1,319 rushing yards).
“You wouldn’t even know he was hurt,” Rathman said of Hyde’s offseason display. “I think he’s going to eat it up. ... This offense should fit Carlos  Hyde.”
Hyde wasn’t overworked the past couple months as the 49ers surveyed his understudies, including Shaun Draughn, DuJuan Harris, Mike Davis and rookie Kelvin Taylor. Hyde didn’t take every first-team snap, as a wise precaution.
“I’ve only seen one Carlos Hyde, and the Carlos Hyde I know has been healthy and full go,” Kelly said.
“Our style and scheme adapts to whoever it is,” Kelly added, “but he certainly has the skillset to be an outstanding running back at this level, because he can do everything.” Kelly wants a three-down back, and he insisted that Hyde is capable of that. Hyde agreed, saying he holds himself to that “standard,” which was set immaculately by his predecessor, Frank Gore.
Hyde’s debut in the post-Gore era made for the 49ers’ best offensive display last year: 168 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a 20-3, season-opening rout of Minnesota. He gained only 302 yards over the next six games before vanishing from the 5-11 season. Hyde also had only 11 receptions for 53 yards overall, and that production should jump dramatically in Kelly’s system. In 21 career games, Hyde has just 23 receptions for one of the league’s worst passing attacks.
“He’s got really, really good hands,” Kelly said. “ ... It’s interesting from someone that size and that has that skillset as a guy coming out of the backfield. So, it’s certainly something we need to continue to build upon with him.”
Hyde is receptive to that, adding: “To me, it feels you’re taking over the whole game. The defense is not just worrying about you running the ball. They’ve got to worry about you coming out of the backfield or lining up at the receiver position and making plays.
It puts stress on the defense and opens things up for others on the team.” But to do so, Hyde must remain healthy. He recently compared notes about his foot fracture with former 49ers teammate Michael Crabtree, who suffered a similar injury twice. Crabtree’s advice: always wear orthotics inside your cleats. Hyde will train in Miami before returning for training camp in late July. His goal is to drop five pounds and be 220 to 225 pounds this season, or 10 pounds lighter than last season. What he’s not going to change, however, is his self-described violent running style.
“I really just try to run through you,” Hyde said, “to let you know I’m not running out of bounds, I’m here to play and it’s going to be all game just like that, so I’m not shying away.”