The 49ers’ backfield got a shakeup when the team traded for running back Christian McCaffrey. It could get another shakeup after the Bye week when RB Elijah Mitchell figures to return from a high ankle sprain. With the position in flux in San Francisco, teams are calling about acquiring 49ers RB Jeff Wilson Jr. per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
San Francisco probably isn’t eager to let go of Wilson, so the asking price would likely start at one of the picks they lost in the McCaffrey trade. In that deal they sent their 2023 second, third and fourth-round selections, and a fifth-round choice in the 2024 draft. A fifth-rounder next year probably isn’t going to get it done, so it might take a fourth or better to convince the 49ers to let Wilson go.
Wilson originally signed with the team as an undrafted rookie in 2018, and this year he’s putting together his best season. He became the starter after Mitchell was hurt in Week 1 and since then has averaged a career-high 5.2 yards per carry on 88 rushes. That yards-per-carry average is fourth among RBs with at least 80 carries.
While it’d make sense to just get some draft capital for Wilson, who’s due to be an unrestricted free agent next offseason, the 49ers may want to keep him in the building down the stretch. They have nine games left after the Bye and Mitchell’s health isn’t reliable. He missed six games as a rookie with various injuries, and this year he sprained his MCL in the season opener. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has also been unwilling to give significant run to third-round rookie Tyrion Davis-Price and undrafted rookie Jordan Mason, so moving on from Wilson would leave the 49ers with McCaffrey, Mitchell and a couple RBs that can’t get on the field.
The Jaguars traded RB James Robinson to the Jets for a sixth-round pick. It would surely take something more than a late Day 3 selection to get Mitchell from San Francisco, and it’s hard to believe a team would be willing to make that kind of deal for him. Perhaps a team is willing to part with a cornerback or offensive lineman that could help the 49ers right away, but teams aren’t typically very deep at those spots and any club trading for a running back is probably too close to contention to give up a starting-caliber player.
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