The San Francisco 49ers continue to bolster their roster as the new NFL season approaches, adding Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr to the recently-acquired Skyy Moore in offensive overhaul.

Robinson arrives in the Bay Area for a 2026 sixth-round draft pick — bolstering the Commanders options in Pittsburgh next April — and will join a running back room which saw Jordan Mason head to Minnesota in free agency, but retains former NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey alongside Isaac Guerendo and 2025 draft pick Jordan James. The fifth round selection will be unavailable for the early part of the season, having recently suffered a broken finger and joins the IR-listed Patrick Taylor Jr and UDFA Corey Kiner on the sidelines.

With McCaffrey having lost vast parts of last season to injury, the Niners will be hoping that Robinson — who proved productive in the capital — can contribute both in terms of yards and points as well as potentially taking some of the load off the team’s RB1, even though ‘Run CMc’ has looked good in training camp.

“Christian looks fantastic,” OL Trent Williams 49erswebzone this week. “He looks like Offensive Player of the Year Christian. That’s really, really refreshing to see, knowing what he had to deal with last year, just the little nicks and knacks, and not being able to do what he loves.”

Robinson, who was one of several running backs to have visited with the 49ers during his pre-draft tour in 2022, survived taking a bullet to the knee before playing a game in the NFL and went on to compile 2,329 yards and 15 touchdowns having been taken by the Commanders as a third-round selection out of Alabama, and has also contributed as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. Happy to find a trade partner for Robinson ahead of the fourth and final year of his rookie contract after questions were raised about his role during preseason, the Commanders are reportedly set to contribute to the player’s $3.4m salary this season.

Washington now heads into the 2025 campaign with a running back corps led by veteran Austin Ekeler and containing third-year Chris Rodriguez Jr, rookie seventh-round pick Jacory Croskey-Merritt, as well as versatile veteran Deebo Samuel — acquired from the 49ers at the end of the 2024 season — and journeyman Jeremy McNichols.

“All six or seven guys in there have a place in this league,” Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury told ESPN prior to the Robinson trade. “They all have dynamic traits, all have things to do really well and guys when they had their opportunity have played at a high level. It’s a deep group and we just got to see how it shakes out.”

Croskey-Merritt has been impressing Commanders staff and team-mates through training camp and will now be given the chance to stake his claim to the RB2 spot despite being a late pick in the wake of a college career that took in spells at Arizona, New Mexico and Alabama State.

“I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen so far,” head coach Dan Quinn told the Commanders official website. “I know he was amped and ready to go for [preseason versus the Bengals], but he makes plays; he’s got quickness. I love the ball security that he had tonight. Those are important things that you can’t overlook.”