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Taking Stock of the 49ers Running Backs

Are they getting better or worse?
Grant Cohn|
Taking Stock of the 49ers Running Backs
Taking Stock of the 49ers Running Backs

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San Francisco 49ers

Are the 49ers running backs getting better or worse?

Let's take stock.

Christian McCaffrey

He was the Offensive Player of the Year last season, some people thought he should have been the MVP and he's the consensus best running back in the NFL. Hard for his stock to be much higher. Still, he faded a bit down the stretch, and averaged just 4.5 yards per carry in the playoffs after averaging 5.4 yards per carry in the regular season. It's possible the 49ers overused him and wore him down. Next season, they should use their other backs more frequently and keep McCaffrey fresh for the games that matter. He'll turn 28 in June, so he's getting old for a running back. The 49ers have to preserve him.

Stock up.

Elijah Mitchell

He's almost always injured. This past season, he averaged 3.7 yards per carry in the regular season and 2.5 yards per carry in the playoffs. He has one more season left on his rookie deal, then he might wash out of the league.

Stock down.

Jordan Mason

He averaged 5.2 yards per carry in the regular season and 6.0 yards per carry in the playoffs. He's one of the most powerful runners in the league and could start for multiple teams. He should back up McCaffrey and carry the ball at least five times per game.

Stock up.

Kyle Juszczyk

The 49ers have cut his playing time and his targets three seasons in a row, he'll be 33 in April and he'll cost the team more than $7 million against the salary cap next season. Time to move on.

Stock down.

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.

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