San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell returned to practice this week after missing most of the month of August with an adductor injury. Still, Mitchell did not suit up for the 49ers’ preseason finale against the Chargers on Aug. 25. What does that mean for Mitchell’s status for the start of the regular season, and how will it impact his fantasy football value?
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What Happened to Elijah Mitchell?
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan first reported Mitchell’s injury back on Aug. 3, and our team covered the impact of Mitchell’s injury. Since the publishing of that article, Mitchell returned to practice and is reportedly “looking explosive.”
The rook Elijah Mitchell had 100+ total yards for the 4th time this season on Sunday 👀
32 touches
168 total yards
1 touchdown pic.twitter.com/dQQZawBaTV— NFL (@NFL) November 30, 2021
As for the decision to sit him out for the 49ers’ last preseason game, that could be construed as both a positive and a negative. On one hand, it speaks to San Francisco’s injury fears over Mitchell.
However, it does speak volumes of the organization’s valuation of Mitchell that he was given rest while key weapons such as Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle — who has also dealt with injury this offseason — all suited up.
It is a well-founded decision for San Francisco to play it safe with Mitchell. Despite entering only his third season in the NFL, Mitchell has missed 18 games across his two years with the team.
What Are the 49ers’ Options if Mitchell Misses Time?
The 49ers are well prepared for scenarios where Mitchell misses time due to injury. Mitchell’s inability to stay on the field surely played a role in San Francisco’s decision to trade for Christian McCaffrey.
Additionally, the 49ers drafted Tyrion Davis-Price in Round 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft, despite sinking a third-round pick into Trey Sermon just one year earlier and Mitchell’s breakout rookie season in 2021. Davis-Price’s production as a rookie was negligible, though the 49ers clearly value his downhill running style.
Davis-Price has been impressive during the preseason. Across San Francisco’s three games, he has rushed for 112 yards on 23 carries (4.9 yards/carry).
Jordan Mason has looked strong for the 49ers during the preseason, too. The second-year pro out of Georgia Tech closed out the preseason with 72 total yards on 10 touches vs. the Chargers. He did suffer a sprained foot in the game, though Shanahan said that Mason is considered day-to-day.
San Francisco will almost certainly carry all four RBs on the roster into the regular season. They brought in two RBs, Brian Hill and Jeremy McNichols, in the wake of Mitchell’s injury. Hill has been ineffective, though, and McNichols has since been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
What Does This Mean for Mitchell’s Fantasy Ranking?
It is dangerous to make fantasy projections about Shanahan’s 49ers. This is the same team that just traded the third overall pick from only three years ago and once benched 23-year-old Brandon Aiyuk for 32-year-old Mohamed Sanu, after all.
It’s completely understandable why Mitchell is a favorite sleeper for many fantasy drafters this season. It’s worth reiterating how efficient Mitchell has been as a runner since entering the NFL.
Over the last decade, only six RBs (Ezekiel Elliott, Josh Jacobs, Jordan Howard, Kareem Hunt, Saquon Barkley, and Todd Gurley) have rushed for more than Mitchell’s 1,242 yards in the first 16 games of their careers.
Even with McCaffrey in town, Mitchell overlapped with CMC from Weeks 10-12 and Week 18, and he finished as the RB33 in half-PPR points per game over those four contests.
That’s nothing revolutionary, but playable, and Mitchell would obviously become a full-steam-ahead fantasy starter in the event of CMC missing time.
That said, while it’s great to hear that Mitchell is officially back in the fold, it’s not great that Davis-Price and Mason each received significant reps in his absence and ran with the opportunity to shine.
Christian McCaffrey is going to handle the bulk of the work in this backfield so long as he’s healthy, and the remaining fraction of touches could be split as many as three ways.
It feels likely that Mason will take over the Jeff Wilson role for Shanahan as a hard-nosed, do-it-all backup who plays his way into a meaningful snap count.
MORE: 2023 Fantasy Football RB Rankings
And between Mitchell and Davis-Price, who should each expect snaps exclusively on first and second downs, it wouldn’t come as a shock whatsoever to see Shanahan ride the hot hand between the two without any regard to pedigree or past performance.
With all of that said, for fantasy football, I would consider other backup RBs with some standalone value and massive upside with starting reps. We have Mitchell ranked as the RB39, and yet I now prefer options like Jaylen Warren and Tyler Allgeier, who are drafted in the same vicinity.