Jordan Mason's monster game means once-vaunted 49ers running back will be gone

The San Francisco 49ers unleashed running back Jordan Mason against the New York Jets on Monday night to great effect.

However, this could mean that their backup for the last few years will be out the door after this season.

Mason was starting in place of the injured Christian McCaffrey. Some people may forget, but the 49ers actually had a good rushing attack even before McCaffrey. Just a few years ago, it seemed like the Niners had their running back of the future in Elijah Mitchell.

In 2021, during his rookie season, Mitchell rushed for 963 yards and had five rushing touchdowns. He broke the franchise's single-season rookie rushing record that year. This came in only 11 games as Mitchell dealt with injuries that season, a theme that would continue the next several years.

In 2022 he only played in five games for San Francisco due to injuries, rushing for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Then last season, Mitchell played in 11 games and was the primary backup to McCaffrey when healthy. The former Louisiana speedster had 281 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Then, prior to the start of the 2024 season, it was announced that Mitchell would be put on season-ending injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

It was yet another injury in an NFL career filled with them.

This latest injury to Mitchell is what Mason to shine on Monday against the Jets. The latter looked explosive and ran with confidence. We saw him look good in the preseason, and last night he proved that was not a fluke.

Even when McCaffrey gets back on the field, Mason will likely still get a decent number of touches per game in an effort to preserve the reigning Offensive Player of the Year's health. Mason will certainly be the starter until McCaffrey gets back on the field.

Looking forward, it is pretty clear who the 49ers will want as their backup going into next season. Both Mason and Mitchell have expiring rookie contracts this year, and at this point, the Niners would have to be interested in signing Mason to a longer deal.

If you take into account McCaffrey's career injury history, having a solid backup like Mason is even more important especially as McCaffrey gets older.

That almost certainly would mean Mitchell's time with the Niners would be over. That is a shame because he was an effective runner when on the field, but he just got injured too much and was not reliable enough for the team.

Perhaps if he can stay on the field he can find success with another organization next year.

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