49ers roster: Elijah Mitchell to become household name in 2022

The 49ers got way more than they expected out of Elijah Mitchell his rookie season, and he could produce electrifyingly more in 2022.

There are probably only a handful of San Francisco 49ers fans who thought the team’s most-impactful rookie from the 2021 NFL Draft would be former Louisiana running back Elijah Mitchell.

Taken in the sixth round, the last of the Niners’ draft class and completely overshadowed by quarterback Trey Lance, Mitchell nevertheless went on to shoulder the bulk of the load on the ground in year one in the wake of San Francisco losing veteran running back Raheem Mostert to a season-ending knee injury in Week 1.

And while Mitchell also dealt with his own injuries over the course of the year, his efforts were nevertheless impressive.

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generated 7/7/2022.

A couple of franchise records to point out here, both for first-year rookies.

Mitchell’s 963 rush yards is a first for a 49ers rookie, and he also became the first first-year Niner to have five 100-yard rush games in a regular season.

Again, not bad for a sixth-round pick. It only served to add to the Niners’ current reputation of being able to hit on late-round draft picks.

However, the context for Mitchell will be entirely different entering his second season, both in terms of his support-cast rushers and how well he can stay healthy in light of multiple injuries a year ago.

If things go well enough, though, Mitchell can absolutely break out in 2022. Let’s look at why.

Why 49ers RB Elijah Mitchell breaks out this season

Mitchell admitted he needs to play at a bigger weight heading into his sophomore season, which will hopefully alleviate some of his injury concerns. While this could cut into his notably fast speed a bit, it’s important to extrapolate the data from 11 games a year ago and translate it into a full 17-game season.

Not-complicated math here, but Mitchell would have rushed for 1,488 yards if he maintained that pace over the course of an entire year. That’s Pro Bowl-worthy, which is what NFL.com’s Nick Shook argued when considering the tailback as San Francisco’s best candidate for a first-time recipient of this award.

Read More: Elijah Mitchell can make the leap into Pro Bowl realm this season

True, the 49ers used a third-round NFL Draft pick this year on LSU running back Tyrion Davis-Price, who figures to take away some touches from Mitchell at various points.

However, as we’ll explain in a bit, the Davis-Price addition might actually help Mitchell, not hinder him.

Why Elijah Mitchell flops with 49ers in year two

As fun as it is to think about Mitchell becoming a household name en route to a Pro Bowl nod, there’s always the reality his second campaign is nothing like his first.

For starters, head coach Kyle Shanahan has almost never carried over the previous year’s leading rusher into that same headlining role the following season. Case in point, Matt Breida was the Niners’ best rusher in 2018 but gave up that spot to Raheem Mostert in 2019, who then watched Jeff Wilson Jr. take over amid injuries in 2020. Then Mitchell in 2021.

It’s a bit of a revolving door here, and Mitchell could find himself usurped by someone like Davis-Price, especially if injuries play a factor.

Having missed six regular-season games because of injury a year ago, one has to consider the former Ragin’ Cajun as a bit of a liability here, and that could easily derail whatever hopes he has of stardom.

Predicting Elijah Mitchell’s role, impact with 49ers in 2022

OK, back to the pending tandem of Mitchell and Davis-Price.

Rewinding back to 2019, Mostert was Shanahan’s leading rusher with 772 yards and eight touchdowns, yet the veteran started precisely zero games. That’s because Shanahan opted to deploy fellow veteran running back Tevin Coleman early in games to both test out opposing defenses and to wear them down, thereby allowing the significantly faster and more explosive Mostert to capitalize later.

Read More: Predicting each 49ers running back’s role in 2022

This appears to be the plan for Davis-Price and Mitchell, the former being bigger and more physical, and it makes sense for San Francisco to let the rookie beat down defenses in the first quarter or so before letting Mitchell’s speed and elusiveness take over.

In this sense, Mitchell could actually wind up increasing his yardage over last year, provided he stays healthy, perhaps en route to his first-ever 1,000-yard campaign.

He might not reach close to 1,500 yards as his 2021 splits suggested, but it’s certainly within reach to see him go well beyond 1,000 yards with ease if he’s able to capitalize.

All the while becoming a well-known offensive weapon in the process.