Why must we so often react to change as if it's a bad thing?
Kyle Shanahan's arrival as the San Francisco 49ers' new head coach in February seemingly cast a shadow upon the team's most promising young star, running back Carlos Hyde, who has spent much of the offseason as the subject of criticism, in terms of Hyde's fit with the team.
There was the report that Shanahan persuaded general manager John Lynch to trade up to draft Joe Williams in the fourth round, after Lynch had excluded the rookie from his initial draft board, which for some signaled a strong desire on Shanahan's part to make Williams his building-block running back.
There were those subtle hints dropped by reporters throughout the summer that Hyde not only would be forced to compete for a starting job, but that he might be in jeopardy of being a training camp cut if he failed to win it.
And there was that first preseason game, during which the 49ers totaled 188 rushing yards while averaging 5.2 yards per carry, third and fifth most in the league for the week, respectively, in which undrafted rookie Matt Breida totaled 54 yards on 13 touches as the No. 2 back into the game, followed by Williams tearing off a pair of 17-yard gains on each of his first two carries (as well as a third later in the game that was negated by penalty) en route to 60 yards on seven total carries.
Oh, by the way, Hyde managed zero yards on his two carries and a mere three yards on his only target of that same game.
Now, let's slam on the brakes, because it's possible -- nay, probable -- that all that criticism has done is deflate Hyde's perceived 2017 fantasy price tag to the point that he's a great value selection.
Putting aside those preseason game returns, which are almost entirely irrelevant beyond signaling a near-even depth chart battle between Breida and Williams (and for the probable No. 3 spot at that, behind Tim Hightower), most everything else reported about Hyde since Shanahan's arrival has been neutral-to-positive.
Hyde was running with the first team during OTAs and minicamp. He reported to camp at a professional-low 228 pounds. Shanahan commended Hyde for his "work ethic and just his attention to detail," per the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Hyde also got the first snaps during said preseason game, again signaling his clear first-team status.
Shanahan himself formulates a key case for Hyde's value: Shanahan's offense has typically resulted in excellent numbers for his running backs. In six of his nine seasons as an offensive coordinator, Shanahan's offenses have ranked in the top 10, and his team-leading running backs averaged 174.8 non-PPR and 210.0 PPR fantasy points, numbers that would've been good for 14th and 13th best last season. He coaxed career years out of Steve Slaton, Keiland Williams, Ryan Torain, Roy Helu, Alfred Morris, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, with Slaton (2008), Morris (2012) and Freeman (2016) finishing their seasons with at least 200 and 250 points in those respective formats.
Having a fullback whose role was entirely to block and catch passes has been a staple of Shanahan's offenses, from Vonta Leach in Houston to Darrel Young in Washington to Patrick DiMarco in Atlanta. That's why Pro Bowler Kyle Juszczyk, signed to a four-year, $21 million contract in March, was an important addition.
In Hyde, Shanahan might not have a running back who is any great shake in the passing game -- Hyde had just 32 targets last season and has averaged just 1.8 per game in his career -- but he has a home run-hitting runner whose shortcomings as a receiver can be made up by what Juszczyk and Hightower bring to the table. Hyde has averaged 4.4 yards per carry in his two seasons as a starter -- 15th out of 55 qualifiers and roughly a quarter-yard better than the league's average during that time -- and his seven carries of 20-plus yards last season ranked tied for sixth.
What's more, Hyde also ranked seventh in the league among qualifiers the past two seasons combined in yards after contact per carry (2.17), and fifth in that category last season alone (2.09). That brings up the next counterargument facing a common criticism of his fantasy prospects: That Hyde's 49ers are such a poor team, they'll constantly face stacked defensive fronts while playing significant chunks of their games from behind on the scoreboard.
It's true that the 49ers' poor offense last season put a damper on Hyde's fantasy production. He played 25 percent of his offensive snaps with the 49ers trailing by at least two touchdowns -- trailing only noted passing-down backs Bilal Powell (29 percent), Shaun Draughn (28) and Duke Johnson Jr. (26) among those with at least 250 total offensive snaps played -- and 47 percent of his offensive snaps when trailing by at least one touchdown, trailing only Johnson (59), Isaiah Crowell (50) and Powell (48).
Despite that, Hyde finished 14th in non-PPR scoring (165.1) and 18th in PPR (192.1) among running backs last season, in just 13 games played. Five of his 13 games resulted in top-10 weekly fantasy point totals in both formats, and only two placed him outside the top 40 at the position in non-PPR (a third kept him just outside in PPR scoring). Imagine the result for Hyde if the 49ers' offense improves even slightly in 2017.
No, it's not skills that should spawn any doubt about Hyde's prospects for 2017 success, and Shanahan and the 49ers surely know this. It's his injury history that represents the one true criticism of the fourth-year running back.
Hyde has already missed 14 games during his three-year NFL career, with 12 of those occurring in the past two seasons. Among his many injuries: ankle (two missed games, 2014 Weeks 16-17), foot (nine missed games, 2015 Weeks 8-17, resulting in season-ending surgery), concussion (one missed preseason game in 2016), shoulder (two missed games, 2016 Weeks 7-9) and knee (one missed game, 2016 Week 17). The latter was a torn left MCL, although Hyde avoided surgery and his aforementioned participation in OTAs and minicamp supports his now being completely healthy.
Still, if you consider that the 13 running backs -- those with NFL experience, that is -- we ranked ahead of Hyde averaged 2.8 missed games during the past two seasons combined, you'll realize that every running back comes with a heightened degree of injury risk. Hyde's is higher than an average running back -- 12 compares rather poorly to 2.8 -- but he's also one of the few in the game likely to take on the vast majority of the first- and second-down carries when he's healthy.
Besides, in case you believe in such things, remember that Hyde is entering the final year of his rookie contract, so he'll be plenty motivated to stay on the field for as much as his body will allow him.
Don't buy into any of this summer's Hyde criticism. In fact, thank his critics for only helping push his ADP down to 16th among running backs and 43rd overall.
After the RB1 tier -- and arguably only the ones through Jay Ajayi (eighth in our composite rankings) -- Hyde offers as much bang for the buck as anyone at his position.