Lynch cautiously excited for Hurd’s return
Wide receiver Jalen Hurd has been medically cleared and has returned to running after missing his rookie season with a stress fracture in his lower back, but 49ers general manager John Lynch tapped the brakes on his excitement Saturday.
“I don’t want to be overly optimistic,” Lynch said, “because last year we saw some progress and then we had some setbacks.”
Indeed, Hurd, a 2019 thirdround pick, was expected to return after he began experiencing discomfort in the second preseason game. However, the condition persisted. Hurd didn’t travel with the team to the Super Bowl in Miami because he was concerned about his back flaring up on the long flight, which had happened earlier in the season.
Hurd, a running back who switched to wide receiver in his final college season, displayed notable improvement in training camp after a slow start. In the lone preseason game he finished, Hurd had two touchdown receptions against Dallas.
Hurd sat out the offseason program last year because of knee surgery after his final college season.
“Jalen’s 14 days that we’ve seen him were lights out,” Lynch said. “The problem is we’ve only seen him for 14 days. Jalen knows full well that he needs to work his tail off so that he can get back and be a contributor. … We love his skill set. We love his mindset. Now it’s time to put it all to work.”
New QB: The 49ers’ newest quarterback has some loose connections to their starting quarterback.
On Saturday, the 49ers signed Broc Rutter, an undrafted rookie free agent who led Division III North Central College in Naperville, Ill., to a national championship last year while throwing for 4,591 yards and 56 touchdowns in 15 games. He won the Gagliardi Trophy, which is given to the best player in Division III.
Rutter is from Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, which is 30 miles from Jimmy Garoppo
lo’s hometown of Arlington Heights. Rutter’s head coach at
North Central was Jeff
Thorne, who, like Garoppolo, played quarterback at Eastern Illinois. The QBs with the most passing yardage in Eastern Illinois history are Garoppolo, New Orleans head coach
Sean Payton, former Dallas QB Tony Romo and Thorne.
Rutter, who measured 6foot1 and 202 pounds at a pro day at nearby Northern Illinois University, set the Division III career record for career passing yards (14,265). He transferred to North Central after spending a redshirt season at Indiana State.
The rest of the undrafted rookie free agents who reached agreement with the 49ers after the NFL draft Saturday are Washington running back
Salvon Ahmed, Baylor running back JaMycal Hasty, Fresno State fullback Josh Hokit, Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Finke, Arkansas tight end Chase Harrell, Nebraska defensive lineman
Darrion Daniels, Indiana State linebacker Jonas Griffith, Missouri cornerback DeMarkus Acy, Alabama safety Jared Mayden and Missouri safety Ronnell Perkins.
The Houston Chronicle reported five of those players will receive at least $50,000 guaranteed to sign: Daniels ($105,000), Finke ($90,000), Hasty ($90,000), Ahmed ($50,000) and Mayden ($50,000).