4 injured SF 49ers who bounce back in a big way in 2021
By Peter Panacy
The SF 49ers dealt with injuries more than any other team in the NFL last season, yet these four injured players should bounce back nicely in 2021.
If there’s one sole reason why the SF 49ers fell way short of expectations in 2021, it was the injury bug.
No team in the league dealt with more injuries over the course of last season than the Niners, who used the largest number of player combinations while trying to shuffle their roster and lineup to account for all the injury attrition over the full slate of 16 regular-season games.
Yet it was the nature of injuries and who suffered them that ultimately resulted in San Francisco going 6-10. The SF 49ers didn’t just suffer a bulk of injuries, they lost key players along the way, some for long stretches of time and others for the entire year after just beginning the season.
The simple law of averages suggests many of these players should return healthy and not go through the same massive setbacks they endured a year ago.
And all that means is these four players should expect to have massive bounce-back campaigns in 2021.
No. 4: SF 49ers running back Raheem Mostert
Running back Raheem Mostert, fair or not, has developed something of a reputation for being an oft-injured runner. And various knee and ankle injuries held him to just eight games over the course of the season before finally being shelved on injured reserve.
Still, during that span, Mostert was able to accumulate 521 rush yards, which stretched out over a full 16 games, would equate to 1,042 yards rushing.
Not bad for playing within a system that uses a regular running back rotation.
Mostert also averaged a team-best 5.0 yards per carry last season despite facing eight-man defensive fronts 18.3 percent of the time, according to Next Gen Stats.
Again, another impressive feat.
Mostert could finally hit a lengthy stride if the Niners are able to get their passing offense going again, allowing Mostert to have freer rushing lanes with less opposition in front of him.
And that could equate to a truly breakout-kind of season.