For most NFL running backs, 260 pounds would be grotesquely overweight. But Brandon Jacobs is not built like most NFL running backs.
The 6-foot-4 Jacobs is listed at 264 pounds, and he told the San Jose Mercury News that he got as heavy as 285 pounds at times with the Giants. But now that he’s with the 49ers, he has a new fitness goal: He wants to get below 260 pounds for the first time in his NFL career.
Jacobs said he’s about 266 or 267 pounds right now and that he believes that over the next few months he can get lighter and faster than he’s ever been as a pro, without losing any strength.
“I’m training 10 times harder than I’ve ever trained,” Jacobs said. “I’m trying to get my body back to where it used to be, get strength in my legs, because that was the weak point in me the last couple years.”
Jacobs had back-to-back seasons of more than 1,000 yards and 5.0 yards a carry in 2007 and 2008, but his production has dropped since then, and the Giants didn’t show much interest in re-signing him when he became a free agent this year. Jacobs seems to have taken that as a sign that he needs to get into better shape, and a slimmer Jacobs could be a big presence on the 49ers’ offense.