49ers training camp: 5 starting jobs fully up for grabs

49ers starting position No. 1: Running back

Players in the mix: Elijah Mitchell, Tyrion Davis-Price, Trey Sermon

The Niners’ running back situation is fluid, too, but that’s essentially been the modus operandi for Kyle Shanahan ever since 2017.

A key element for San Francisco, though is to lessen the workload upon wide receiver Deebo Samuel and to have him serve less as a rusher and more of a pure receiver. And one of the means by which the 49ers hope to have addressed this is by using a third-round pick on former LSU tailback Tyrion Davis-Price.

Yes, Davis-Price might actually start for the Niners this season. But we shouldn’t automatically assume the hard-to-tackle rookie will be San Francisco’s top rusher.

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In 2019, when then-49ers running back Raheem Mostert led the offense with 772 rush yards, he had precisely zero starts. No, Shanahan frequently opted to deploy fellow runner Tevin Coleman as the starter, using him to test out opposing defenses and wear them down before giving way to the faster, more explosive Mostert.

That’ll likely be the plan with Davis-Price and second-year pro Elijah Mitchell, whose 963 rush yards his rookie season were only overshadowed by the fact he missed six games because of injury.

A dark-horse player in the mix is fellow second-year pro Trey Sermon, whom the Niners won’t give up upon after a disappointing 2021 campaign just yet.

Training camp kicks off on Tuesday, July 26.