Raheem Mostert isn’t lacking for confidence coming off a breakout 2019 campaign. He spoke to the media Wednesday and wasn’t shy about explaining what he thinks his role is going into 2020.
The former undrafted free agent put on 20 pounds over the offseason to help his body adapt to an increased role in the offense.
“Having more muscle mass, and having more endurance and all those types of things, so that way I’m able to get 20-something carries a game,” Mostert said in a Zoom call. “Which is not to say that’s gonna happen, but I gotta prepare myself because I am the starting running back. And my confidence level is just up to the guys that consider themselves to be top backs.”
Mostert last season tied for the team lead in rushing attempts with 137. That brought his career total up to 170 carries.
While he was undoubtedly the 49ers’ best rusher with a team-high 772 rushing yards, Mostert earned zero starts last season, and only had two games with more than 10 carries prior to Week 12. Now he believes he’s the starting running back who’ll operate as the 49ers’ offensive workhorse in the backfield.
With Matt Breida gone via an offseason trade, Jerick McKinnon’s injury questions and Tevin Coleman’s up-and-down 2019 showing, it’s easy to put Mostert down as the No. 1 running back.
What’ll be interesting to track is his snap count. Mostert played just 34 percent of the offensive snaps last season — just behind Tevin Coleman who played 35 percent of the total snaps and missed two games. While Mostert should lead the team in carries by a significant margin, it’s not a slam dunk that he’ll cement himself as the ‘starter.’
Coleman played a lot last season because of his pass-catching ability and pass blocking prowess. McKinnon is also an excellent pass-catching back. Mostert isn’t necessarily bad as a receiver or blocker, but Coleman and McKinnon offer a little more versatility while bringing less on the ground. Given head coach Kyle Shanahan’s desire to remain unpredictable on offense, there’ll always be snaps available for multi-faceted running backs.
The good news is Mostert is entering the season with a level of assurance he’s never had on offense. He may not be the team’s “starting” running back or rack up 250 carries, but he should pretty easily be their leading rusher and make good use of his extra 20 pounds.
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