49ers vs. Cardinals: 5 Niners who stood out in Week 5 loss

No. 3: 49ers Running Back Elijah Mitchell

Perhaps it’s a bit of a tossup why the 49ers aren’t involving their third-round NFL Draft rookie, running back Trey Sermon, in the offense as long as the sixth-round rookie rusher, Elijah Mitchell, is healthy.

That’s a solid question for Kyle Shanahan, as is the fact he called for only 12 rush plays that didn’t involve Trey Lance’s legs in Week 5.

Nevertheless, it was still good to see Mitchell come back from the shoulder injury that forced him to miss two games, and his notable speed was on full display against a Cardinals defense that was allowing 5.4 rush yards per carry entering the game.

Mitchell averaged 4.8 yards per attempt, so it’s a good question why Shanahan didn’t involve him in the offense more, especially considering the rookie tallied only nine carries for 43 yards and the Niners weren’t exactly trying to make up a drastic amount of points throughout the game.

The good thing, though, is it appears as if San Francisco has a high-end rusher who can provide the kind of impact necessary to help reinvigorate the ground game.

Even if Sermon has reverted back to being something of an afterthought despite rushing for 89 yards the previous week.