5 Reasons Why San Francisco 49ers Fans Should Be Excited About Marcus Lattimore

After an injury in 2012 that saw Lattimore tear every ligament in his right knee and dislocate his kneecap, many thought his days of breaking tackles and scoring TDs were over. Instead, Lattimore displayed the mental toughness necessary to play at the NFL level in battling through two years of intensive rehab to get where he is today.

Lattimore is a taller, powerful north-south runner who plays with enough power to plow through holes in between the tackles and gain yards. He's the type of back who can turn a one-yard loss into a two-yard gain or a five-yard play into a 15-yard rumble.

Obviously Lattimore possesses great balance on his feet, but it's his balanced overall game as a rushing threat, pass blocker and pass catcher that should thrill the 49ers faithful. Lattimore is a back who keeps his legs churning for the extra yard, gets into his routes fluidly and isn't afraid to hustle or make contact in order to keep his QB clean.

Lattimore has been compared to Arian Foster, but it's the comparison to a NFL Hall of Fame running back that should have your attention. It's widely known that Lattimore doesn't have top-end speed, but like Emmitt Smith before him, he has great vision and the ability to break tackles and earn big gains the old-fashioned way.

Allow me to present the following:

High School (Senior season) -- 1,898 rushing yards and 31 TDs.

College (2010-12) -- 555 attempts for 2,677 yards and 38 scores.

Are you excited yet?