San Francisco 49ers: 5 early battles to monitor for 2021 training camp

49ers training camp battle No. 1: Running back pecking order

It’s become a yearly theme to have Kyle Shanahan note how his running backs will each determine their own roles for the regular season in training camp, and we shouldn’t anticipate any changes in 2021.

This is a crowded and awfully fluid part of San Francisco’s offseason roster with returning veterans like Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr., JaMycal Hasty and Austin Walter competing for carries with the two drafted rookies, Ohio State’s Trey Sermon and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elijah Mitchell.

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Mostert is getting older and is coming off an injury-plagued year, while Wilson and Hasty also missed time in 2020 because of injury. Those three are also free agents next season, too, adding further context to Shanahan’s eventual depth-chart decisions.

Mostert, still, has been the 49ers’ best ground option when healthy, and Shanahan surely appreciates Wilson’s toughness and playmaking skills when given the chance.

Those two are likely safe on the roster, although using a third-round pick on Sermon likely means his expectation level will be awfully high entering training camp. Will he surpass Mostert and/or Wilson on the depth chart? Probably not, although it doesn’t necessarily matter to Shanahan who “starts” at running back on a week-to-week basis. The head coach will go with the hot hand.

Mitchell is an intriguing commodity, too, as he has elite-level speed that could challenge Mostert. For now, however, the dual-threat pass-catching rookie is probably tabbed as a fourth-string option and reserve commodity, perhaps pushing Hasty and Walter off the roster by Week 1.