Kyle Shanahan is Seeing Immense Improvement From RB Ty Davis-Price

49ers running back Ty Davis-Price is potentially vying for a roster spot, so he will need to leave a lasting impression on Kyle Shanahan.

The rookie season for running back Ty Davis-Price was underwhelming.

There was very little to like from anything he showed and that includes the preseason. It is why I have believed that he is vying for a roster spot since the running back position is set with Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, and Jordan Mason. Only one more spot will be allocated to a running back, so Davis-Price needs a strong training camp.

As of now, he's been doing an excellent job in the eyes of Kyle Shanahan who is seeing immense improvement from him.

"I think he's already done it. I mean I think he's taken a huge jump since last year," Shanahan said.  "Just the conditioning that he put in in phase one and two, what he did these 40 days away. Just how good he was the first day we saw him in terms of his stamina, how he's running, understanding the offense, and what we want out of him more. I thought he had a great OTAs and he's come back and he's even having a better training camp.”

This is the start that Davis-Price desperately needed at training camp and the impression he needed to have on Shanahan. The fact that he has shown such growth from last year, it's never a given that a player does, means he is a player worth keeping.  Shanahan was also open about Davis-Price still settling in and adjusting to the 49ers offense.

"Lots of guys are when they get in. Just a different style, what we ask out of our guys and it took him a little bit of time and he was going to get an opportunity though early especially when [RB] Elijah [Mitchell] got hurt, but he got that high ankle sprain in Week Two and then was out a month and just fell behind.” 

It sounds like Shanahan saw Davis-Price's rookie season as an unfortunate circumstance. That only bodes well for him in being retained on the roster since Shanahan doesn't hold his rookie year against him. Of course, he still needs to put it all together when the pads come on in camp and in the preseason. Seeing growth and starting camp well isn't going to do it, especially since they are without pads. Shanahan has always valued the padded practices for the running backs heavily. 

That is where Davis-Price will really be able to leave a lasting impression.