San Francisco running back Raheem Mostert’s story from undrafted free agent to record-breaking hero is one Hollywood couldn’t write up.
Before he became the only NFL running back to rush for over 200 yards and score four rushing touchdowns in a playoff game, Mostert couldn’t find a spot on the roster of six other teams before signing with the Super Bowl-bound 49ers in 2016.
The Eagles, Dolphins, Ravens, Browns, Jets and Bears all signed and cut Mostert over a two-season span from 2015-2016. He never saw a regular-season carry for those teams despite being an incredible track athlete at Purdue. This past season, though, the 49ers gave him the ball 137 times in the regular season, which he turned into 772 yards and eight touchdowns.
Mostert keeps the dates he was cut by every team in the Notes app of his phone, per Yahoo Sports’ Kimberely Martin, to remind him of his own journey and those who doubted his ability. The one cut he said most surprised him, though, was when the Jets released him from their practice squad six days after they signed him in September 2016.
“I was on the practice squad and I thought I was going to get bumped up,” Mostert told Martin. “But they released me after a week.”
That season, the Jets cycled through a bevy of backups behind Matt Forte and Bilal Powell and never really took a look at Mostert, who signed with the Bears the day after the Jets cut him. He lasted 65 days in Chicago.
So, who discovered this eventual record-setting running back among the scrapheap of NFL free agents? You’d never guess it, but it was a 49ers organization led by former general manager Trent Baalke and ex-coach Chip Kelly. San Francisco signed him to their practice squad on Nov. 28, 2016, but it would take Mostert two more years and a regime change before he saw meaningful carries with the 49ers.
The 49ers didn’t need to keep Mostert when Kyle Shanahan took over as coach and John Lynch became GM in 2017. Mostert mostly played special teams the season prior and only touched the ball once on offense. But they kept him around for depth, and Mostert saw only six carries behind Carlos Hyde and Matt Breida and missed the final five games of the 2017 season with a knee injury. The next season, Mostert finished with 34 carries, but the 49ers saw his worth as a quality backup and special teamer and signed him to a three-year, $8.7 million before the 2019 season – a bargain now considering what he’s been able to accomplish.
With that resume, it would have been hard to predict what happened in 2019. But with a combination of skill, scheme and opportunity, Mostert broke out.
He took the speed he became known for in college – Mostert won gold in the 60- and the 200-meter dash at Purdue and ran the fifth-fastest 40-yard dash time (4.34 seconds) – and used it to prove to the coaching staff how he was tailor-made for Shanahan’s offense. His quickness and agility proved to be perfect for an offense designed to be interchangeable among rushers and Mostert took full advantage of his skillset when injuries struck.
When the season opened, Mostert sat third on the unofficial depth chart behind Brieda and Tevin Coleman after presumed starter Jerick McKinnon landed on injured reserve. Mostert earned more playing time when Breida and Coleman battled injuries throughout the season and excelled whenever he saw double-digit carries.
Mostert didn’t see consistent work in the backfield until Week 12, and by that time he had proven to be the best running back on the roster and the perfect sparkplug for the offense. Mostert finished the regular season with 54 carries for 322 yards and four touchdowns.
“He’s perfectly built and designed to do what Kyle needs him to do,” 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said. “And for some people, another scheme may not be effective; he may be a regular Joe. But in this, he’s one of the best backs in this league.”
The Jets missed out on a potential star in Mostert back in 2016, but there’s no way to know how he would have played in John Morton’s and Jeremy Bates’ offenses, and it’s even harder to conceive him playing well behind the Jets’ 2019 offensive line with Adam Gase running the show. It’s typical Jets to see a former practice squad player perform so well after leaving — remember Danny Woodhead? — but that’s just the way it goes sometimes in the NFL.
Mostert’s story is amazing, and he’ll be a testament to other players who look for their chance to prove themselves in a league that continues to devalue the running back position.