San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell has been battling an injury this week, but he looks like he’s trending towards being ready to play. The rookie out of the University of Louisiana was not the rookie RB most people thought would take over the San Francisco backfield — that was supposed to be third-round pick Trey Sermon out of Ohio State. Instead, Mitchell stole the show, both on the field and in fantasy football.
However, there’s one problem — Jeff Wilson has returned to practice, and we know Kyle Shanahan and his Shanahanigans have a tendency to rear their frustrating head. What are we doing with Mitchell in Week 9?
Despite injury, Elijah Mitchell has been a pleasant surprise
In Week 1, Mitchell erupted onto the NFL scene with 19 carries for 104 yards and a TD, quickly showing what he was capable of. Week 2 was a bit of a letdown, with only 44 scrimmage yards and no scores. Mitchell then missed two games with injury and posted another middling effort upon his return. The Niners went on bye in Week 6, and the temperature cooled slightly on the rookie back.
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Then the last two weeks happened — Mitchell posted consecutive games of 100+ rushing yards, adding a rushing score in each contest. Over the last two weeks, Mitchell is the overall RB4 in half-PPR scoring.
Mitchell has taken over the 49ers’ backfield, for now
Last week, Mitchell had 18 carries. The only other running back that saw a handoff was JaMycal Hasty, who only carried it 3 times. Sermon hasn’t handled a touch since Week 5. As of now, San Francisco’s backfield belongs to Mitchell.
Here’s the thing, though — I still don’t trust Shanahan to consistently feature him. We’ve seen the perpetual carousel of running backs spinning through San Francisco over the last couple of years.
Now, Jeff Wilson is nearing a return, and Shanahan loves him. Wilson was the featured back down the stretch last year, averaging 14.7 carries and 3.5 targets per game between Weeks 11-16 last year. He also cashed in 5 TDs in those six games.
Wilson isn’t going to just disappear. He’s going to see work in this backfield, and he might be just annoying enough to cause issues for Mitchell’s fantasy value.
Mitchell’s Week 9 fantasy outlook
I’ll be honest — I’m a bit hesitant. Mitchell is working through a rib injury that sidelined him from Wednesday’s practice, but he was able to get in a limited session on Thursday. On Sunday morning, Ian Rapoport reported that Mitchell should be able to play today barring a pre-game setback. However, a report from Adam Schefter stated that the team does not know how long Mitchell will be able to play, which is a major cause for concern.
In Week 9, Mitchell and the 49ers face the Arizona Cardinals, who have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game (14.7) to opposing running backs. San Francisco also has a major discrepancy in the number of times they run the ball at home as opposed to on the road. When they’re at home, they run it 24.7 times per game, as opposed to 30 attempts while on the road.
This is a home game for the 49ers. If Arizona limits the run and Wilson factors into this backfield, Mitchell’s upside might be limited this week. If you have him, I’d still play him, but I wouldn’t be expecting the same RB1 performance you’ve received in each of the past two weeks.