49ers 7-round mock NFL Draft with Super Bowl 56 in the books
By Peter Panacy
Bearcats . Jerome Ford. 132. player. 830. . Running Back
Round 4, Pick No. 132 Overall: RB Jerome Ford, Cincinnati
On the surface, it might not seem pressing for the 49ers to go after yet another running back. At least not after 2021 first-year pro Elijah Mitchell rushed for a rookie franchise-record 963 yards last season.
But the depth behind Mitchell heading into 2022 is questionable at best. That’s why someone like Cincinnati’s Jerome Ford makes sense.
Ford was sensational for the Bearcats in 2021, rushing for 1,319 yards and averaging 6.1 yards per attempt, while also adding another element in the receiving game:
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
| *2018 | Alabama | SEC | FR | RB | 4 | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 0 | |
| *2019 | Alabama | SEC | FR | RB | 4 | 24 | 114 | 4.8 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 | 26 | 125 | 4.8 | 3 |
| *2020 | Cincinnati | American | FR | RB | 10 | 73 | 483 | 6.6 | 8 | 8 | 51 | 6.4 | 0 | 81 | 534 | 6.6 | 8 |
| *2021 | Cincinnati | American | JR | RB | 13 | 215 | 1319 | 6.1 | 19 | 21 | 220 | 10.5 | 1 | 236 | 1539 | 6.5 | 20 |
| Career | Overall | 319 | 1953 | 6.1 | 30 | 31 | 282 | 9.1 | 1 | 350 | 2235 | 6.4 | 31 | ||||
| Alabama | 31 | 151 | 4.9 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 | 33 | 162 | 4.9 | 3 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 288 | 1802 | 6.3 | 27 | 29 | 271 | 9.3 | 1 | 317 | 2073 | 6.5 | 28 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference
Generated 2/14/2022.
The only other running backs rostered behind Mitchell in 2022 are JaMycal Hasty and fellow second-year pro Trey Sermon.
Sermon failed to make much of a dent after being drafted in Round 3 last year, and the Niners haven’t turned Hasty into much more than a gadget player.
With veteran tailbacks Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. pegged for free agency this offseason, and Kyle Shanahan’s tendency of not relying too heavily on any one single running back, adding a player like Ford to the fray makes a lot of sense.