All 49ers

Why Raheem Mostert has Bulked Up for 2020

Now the 49ers have to feature him.
Grant Cohn|
Why Raheem Mostert has Bulked Up for 2020
Why Raheem Mostert has Bulked Up for 2020

Raheem Mostert is the best running back in the NFC West -- he's an emerging super star. And yet, he has started zero games during his career, and has carried the ball only 367 times since high school, when he was a wide receiver. He never has been a featured running back.

Until now, perhaps.

Mostert expects the 49ers to give him lots of carries in 2020, so he has prepared his body for the extra pounding it will take.

"I'm just building myself up," Mostert said. "I'm actually gaining some more muscle, which is kind of bizarre because I already had muscle. Just trying to incorporate those things in my daily workouts so I'm able to take those hits and be one of those guys who is getting 200 carries. I have to get prepared for that. And the only way I know how is to get bulky and stronger."

Last year, Mostert rushed 137 times during the regular season -- roughly nine carries per game. And he averaged a whopping 5.6 yards per carry. So the 49ers increased his workload in the playoffs. Gave him roughly 17 carries per game, and he got even better. Averaged 6.3 yards per carry and scored five touchdowns.

The 49ers were careful not to overuse Mostert last season, because he had a knee injury. Now his knee is fine, and his body is bigger and stronger. He has done everything in his power to become an elite featured back.

Now the 49ers just have to feature him.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News