San Franicso 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell found himself in an all-too-familiar spot of being sidelined due to injury. Mitchell suffered a sprained MCL during the Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Luckily, head coach Kyle Shanahan thinks he has some viable options behind Mitchell on his depth chart.
“I think we’ve gone through at least four throughout a year and we’re already at that again,” Shanahan said to ESPN. “And that’s why you can never have too many of them. Sometimes it feels like we have a lot, and very quickly it now feels like you don’t because those numbers end fast.”
Now, the bulk of the load will likely go to backup Jeff Wilson Jr. That said, perhaps youngsters Ty Davis-Price and Jordan Mason will have some value in fantasy football, as well.
Ty Davis-Price and Jordan Mason Fantasy Football Ranking & Analysis
Going into the Niners’ Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks, we currently don’t have Mason or Davis-Price listed in our NFL Sit ’em Start ’em Fantasy Football Rankings for Week 2, but that could change if either makes the most out of the opportunity presented to them.
“We’ve always been comfortable with Jeff [Wilson Jr.] just because of his experience and what he’s done here. We know what we’re gonna get. The other two guys? They made our team for a reason. They’re two talented players who we think can help us a lot running the ball, but they’ve got to grow up fast. They’re trying to compete and learn how to play better without the ball in their hand,” Shanahan said when asked about Davis-Price and Wilson.
Last season, Wilson was also thrusted into a more important role following an injury to Mitchell. He ran for 294 yards and two touchdowns in just nine game in his own injury-shortened season. In 2020, Wilson ran for 600 yards and seven touchdowns, winning over the trust of the Niners’ coaching staff.
For now, it’s probably not necessary to waste a roster spot on Davis-Price or Mason, but they’re names to keep an eye on as the year progresses.
