49ers Frank Gore is “one of the best backs” Steve Young has seen
Frank Gore is getting old. The San Francisco 49ers running back turned 31 in May. He’s stuck in a pit of hungry youngsters, eager to steal his carries. Gore has said he has no intent of letting others leech his carried. He wants them all. And as far as 49ers great Steve Young is concerned, Gore deserves every carry he gets.
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“Frank is the most underrated football player -– and this is not hyperbole –- honestly that I’ve ever known,” Young said on KNBR, via CSN Bay Area. “He’s one of the best backs I’ve ever seen or watch play.”
Gore isn’t a home run threat like Chris Johnson. He’s better than that.
“He might not explode for 80 (yards), but how many guys really do that that change games? Wouldn’t you rather have a guy that made every first down?” Young asked. “Third-and-four and he got you five because of his unique, incredible capability to wait and hold.
“He has made more first downs just purely on guts and guile.”
That sums Gore up nicely, “guts and guile.” The veteran will run you over and eat turf if it means getting the first down. He also knows where the hole in the offensive line will be before it happens — his running vision is unparalleled. People forget how productive he’s been, too.
He’s eclipsed 1,000 yards in seven seasons since he was named the started in 2006, via CSN Bay Area’s staff. What finishes the deal? CSN Staff writes, “And according to the advanced statistics at Pro Football Focus, Gore stayed in to pass block 81 times last season, which was the most of any NFL running back.”
There isn’t a running back in the NFL as well-rounded as Frank Gore.