Tag: Jordan Mason

Watch: 49ers waste no time striking first vs. Seahawks with Jordan Mason TD

The 49ers wasted no time getting started against the Seahawks on Sunday.

The San Francisco 49ers wasted no time striking first against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon in Santa Clara. Within the first minute of action. Jordan Mason punched in a short touchdown to give the 49ers an early 7-0 advantage.

Via @49ers on Twitter:

Mason’s touchdown was set up by a long run from Christian McCaffrey to start the game. On the first play from scrimmage, McCaffrey blitzed by the Seahawks defense for a 72-yard run.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Fantasy Football: 15 waiver wire targets for NFL Week 7

49ers running back Jordan Mason highlights this week’s list of the top waiver wire targets in fantasy football.

We’re drawing closer to the midway point of the 2023 NFL season and injuries are starting to pile up, particularly at running back.

In San Francisco, star 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey suffered an oblique injury on Sunday. If CMC has to miss any games, Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell will presumably be the next men up in San Fran’s backfield.

In Detroit, David Montgomery suffered a ribs injury in Week 6 that will leave him sidelined for “a little bit.” Jahmyr Gibbs would be the obvious choice to replace Montgomery, but he’s currently dealing with a hamstring injury. That might leave Craig Reynolds as the team’s top running back in Week 7.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers both suffered injuries on Sunday. That leaves rookie Zach Evans as the team’s top remaining RB.

To help fantasy football managers attempt to improve their rosters going into Week 7, we’ve put together a quick list of the 15 best waiver wire targets with options at running back, wide receiver, quarterback and tight end.

Each player’s rostered percentage in ESPN fantasy football leagues is listed in parentheses. Ready? Let’s get to the list!

Fantasy football advice on 49ers RBs Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell

Fantasy advice for anyone looking to add a #49ers RB:

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is dealing with an injury to his ribs/oblique, which raises significant questions in the fantasy football community about how to navigate San Francisco’s backfield.

Here is our advice:

Don’t.

Instead of ripping your hair out wondering whether to add and/or start Elijah Mitchell or Jordan Mason or Ty Davis-Price, maybe go for a walk or watch a movie or something.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that you’re going to take advantage of the McCaffrey injury to get and/or start a 49ers RB who’s going to help win you your league.

Here is the flaw in that plan:

You’re already wrong.

Whatever decision you decide to make is the incorrect one.

You can dive into snap counts and touches in past years, and touches in Week 6 when McCaffrey got hurt, and recent production and all that. Your hard work is commended. Seriously.

Your hard work is also worthless.

Here’s what Shanahan had to say about how his backfield might look if McCaffrey misses time:

“Yeah, we’ll see.”

Good start!

He continued:

[RB] Elijah’s [Mitchell] earned a ton with us over these years. I think Elijah, when he has been healthy, has been as good of a back as there is. He’s just had a hard time staying healthy, but I also can’t take away anything from JP. I mean every time JP’s got his opportunities, you guys see how he’s done. So both of those guys have done very well. Elijah came back and practiced late last week on Thursday. So he got really one true day of practice in and that’s why JP got the first nod once Christian came out. But we’ve got two really good players there. I know [RB Tyrion] TY Davis[-Price] is waiting for his opportunity also. So hopefully Christian will be good to go this week, but if not, we’ve got a group of backs that we can rely on.

Do you know what that sounds like? That sounds like a coach who wants nothing more than to put a winning offense on the field destroy your fantasy team.

No matter what happens there’s going to be some modicum of guesswork involved. Give it at minimum two weeks to see if one player emerges as the workhorse back. Given Shanahan’s pre-McCaffrey history though that seems unlikely.

This group screams “running back by committee” which is a fantasy player’s nightmare.

Avoid that nightmare. Skip it entirely. Put your energy into research at other positions. Or maybe put it into knitting, or curling up with a good book.

Ideally for the 49ers this won’t be an issue and McCaffrey will be able to play through whatever his oblique/rib injury turns out to be.

If he’s unable to go, that opens a door no fantasy player should walk through. It’s chaos. It’s like Alice in Wonderland but with more flatbilled snapback hats. And that’s not a place anyone wants to be.

(Editor’s note: Okay, but seriously even if Mitchell winds up starting and getting more touches than Mason, Mason has been the better back this year and even in limited touches in the last two games has 96 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He’s probably the safer play for anyone who needs to play a 49ers RB, but it’s risky given how sporadic and potentially limited those touches may be. Mitchell is also a huge injury risk who missed Weeks 4 and 5, and in the three games he’s played he has 49 yards on 18 carries. Proceed with caution on all fronts.)

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Fantasy football waiver wire: Week 7 free-agent forecast

Check out the top waiver wire targets in fantasy football for Week 7.

Don’t look now, but we’re nearly halfway through the 2023 fantasy football season as Week 7 quickly approaches. Scouring the waiver wire has never been more prudent.

After being blessed with just two teams on a bye, this week won’t be as kind. There are six teams off this week, several of which boast superior fantasy talent. Teams on a bye in Week 7 include the Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.

We’ll be taking a look at the top available players rostered in Yahoo leagues, using the 75% rostered mark as the threshold. If you have any questions about prioritizing a certain player over another, don’t be afraid to hit me up on X, formerly Twitter, (@KevinHickey11). Your questions and comments are always welcome!

We also will be taking a look at some deeper players to stash and the top streaming options for the upcoming week.

Fantasy football waiver wire recommendations refer to 12-team league formats, unless specifically stated.

Check back for any updates throughout Monday and Tuesday as more injury news becomes available.

49ers snap counts that stand out from Week 6 vs. Browns

A few things stood out from the #49ers Week 6 snap counts:

The 49ers snaps in their Week 6 loss to the Browns offered a couple of intriguing insights into where the team stands from a roster standpoint.

San Francisco’s snap counts were thrown a little out of whack in part because of injuries to running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Deebo Samuel, but those injuries also gave us a look at how the 49ers view their depth chart at a couple spots.

Let’s run through what stood out from the team’s official snap counts:

49ers highlight: Jordan Mason plows in for go-ahead TD vs. Browns

Watch: The #49ers take the lead early in the 4th quarter with a Jordan Mason TD run.

Deommodore Lenoir’s interception set the 49ers offense up with a first-and-goal at the Browns’ 8. They capitalized with a touchdown on the first play when RB Jordan Mason plowed in for a TD on a toss play. It was the 49ers’ first touchdown since their first drive of the game and gave San Francisco a 17-13 lead.

Is RB Jordan Mason dropping opportunity for role in 49ers offense?

Pass catching is vital for the #49ers RBs, and that may be what puts Jordan Mason on the outside looking in at the RB rotation.

It looked after last season like another late-round/undrafted running back might be carving out a bigger role over a highly drafted player at the same position. RB Jordan Mason, who wasn’t selected in last year’s draft, averaged 6.0 yards per carry on 43 attempts last year in a role where he helped close games for the 49ers down the stretch.

Mason looked on track to take on a role over 2022 third-round pick Ty Davis-Price going into their second seasons, but that opportunity may be slipping through Mason’s hands.

49ers assistant head coach/running backs coach Anthony Lynn earlier in the offseason emphasized the importance of pass catching for the team’s RBs now that they’d integrated RB Christian McCaffrey into their offense. Due to McCaffrey’s diverse skill set, it put pressure on the other 49ers running backs to be effective receivers so the team didn’t have to run a separate version of its offense when McCaffrey was on the field.

Mason on Wednesday dropped a screen pass in practice according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. This came after Sunday’s season opener where Mason dropped a screen on a second-down play that would’ve gone for big yardage.

That could be a problem for the former UDFA since Davis-Price has drawn praise from the coaching staff for the significant leap he’s taken since last season. Part of that leap is his pass-catching abilities. If Mason can’t consistently hold on to the short throws that make life easy on QBs, he could find himself on the outside looking in at the RB rotation to begin his second season.

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49ers all-important 3rd RB job may come down to pass catching

The back of the 49ers RB depth chart may be decided by which player can best mimic Christian McCaffrey.

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Typically the third running back on an NFL roster isn’t a player of much consequence. For the 49ers, a team with injury issues at the position in each of the last few seasons, that spot on the depth chart is pretty important. According to running backs coach Anthony Lynn, there’s one key component that could determine what direction the 49ers go with that spot on game days.

Last season special teams played a sizable role in the 49ers’ running back depth chart. This year the RB group looks significantly different. Christian McCaffrey will be the No. 1 back beginning in Week 1 with Elijah Mitchell behind him. Roster spots beyond that are up for grabs, and according to Lynn, McCaffrey’s arrival has pushed pass catching up the list of priorities for the 49ers running backs.

“You don’t want to have two offenses,” Lynn said via the Athletic. “You don’t want to have Christian come out for a water break and have the next guy come in and have to call (different) plays. So our guys have had to evolve and do more in the passing game.”

2022 third-round pick Tyrion Davis-Price figures to be in the mix for that job. 2022 undrafted rookie Jordan Mason does as well.

Last season Mason regularly got the nod over Davis-Price because of his ability to play special teams. He then 6.0 yards per carry on 43 attempts. Meanwhile, Davis-Price dealt with an injury early last season, never made a mark on special teams, and posted 2.9 yards per carry on 34 attempts.

While all of that would appear to give Mason the edge going into training camp this year, the player who evolves best as a pass catcher is the one liable to work their way into the No. 3 RB role.

That also opens the door for undrafted rookies Khalan Laborn and Ronald Awatt to make their mark, though their climb to a job will be steeper as first-year players.

All of this matters because of what the 49ers have faced injury-wise at RB over the last few seasons. In 2020 the team used six running backs, and only Jerick McKinnon played a full 16-game slate. Jeff Wilson Jr. played in 12 games. No other RB suited up for double-digit contests.

That trend continued in 2021 when Mitchell starred as a rookie, but played in only 11 games. Wilson played in nine, and wide receiver Deebo Samuel finished third on the team in carries with Trey Sermon and Raheem Mostert playing just 10 games combined.

Last year wasn’t much different. Mitchell got hurt in Week 1 and played only five games. Davis-Price dealt with an injury and played only six games. McCaffrey’s arrival helped steady the backfield as he played all 11 games he was in San Francisco for, but he had injury problems of his own in 2020 and 2021.

The 49ers can’t be too careful with their backfield, so having a ton of depth there will be vital. How they choose that depth used to come down to which player ran the best. Now McCaffrey’s multifaceted game has forced the team to find other RBs to do the same. Running will still matter, but the depth chart will likely come down to which player makes the biggest mark in the passing game.

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49ers roster: 3rd RB a sneaky-important spot in 2023

On the importance of the 3rd RB spot for the #49ers:

Running back probably isn’t going to show up on a list of 49ers’ roster needs with the NFL draft a little over a month out. That doesn’t mean the position doesn’t come with a little bit of a question mark.

San Francisco has perhaps the most dynamic one-two punch in the NFL atop their running back depth chart with Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell.

McCaffrey joined the team in Week 7 last year and wound up leading the team with 746 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. He finished fourth in receptions and receiving yards, and third in receiving touchdowns. He finished second on the team behind George Kittle with 10 total touchdowns. All of that came despite him playing in only 11 games with the 49ers.

Behind him is Mitchell, who averaged 6.2 yards per carry in his second season after posting a team-best 963 rushing yards in 11 games as a rookie. He also finished No. 8 in the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie.

That third spot on the depth chart is one the 49ers will need to figure out though because going into a year relying on 17 games each from McCaffrey and Mitchell could put them and their run game in a tough spot.

While McCaffrey played in all 17 games last year, he dealt with a knee issue that limited him in practice for much of his time with the 49ers. In the 2020 and 2021 seasons he played in just 10 games combined.

But even if McCaffrey’s injury woes are behind him, part of what makes him valuable to the 49ers is the ability to line up a second RB with him. Mitchell, while successful between the lines his first two years between, has missed 18 games with a spate of injuries.

This makes the third RB a sneaky important spot for the 49ers. McCaffrey and Mitchell are both fine players on their own and McCaffrey without Mitchell worked for San Francisco last season. Having an additional, effective RB to slot in if one of them is unavailable would be an immense help in keeping some of the workload off Mitchell or McCaffrey though.

There are two options on the roster with second-year RBs Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price.

Davis-Price was a third-round pick in last year’s draft and began the year ahead of Mason in the pecking order, but an injury in Week 2 sidelined him for three weeks. Mason, thanks to his ability to play special teams, overtook Davis-Price on the depth chart and the third-round pick wound up either inactive or without a role for most of the season.

Mason looked good in his limited number of carries. On 43 attempts he rushed for 258 yards and a touchdown. Davis-Price was less effective with 99 yards on 34 carries, but his injury combined with inconsistent playing time could be part of the culprit for his struggles.

It stands to reason Mason enters the offseason as the frontrunner, but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that Davis-Price makes a jump and lands the No. 3 RB job.

The 49ers have to figure out which of those two players is the better option at RB, or if they need to bring in additional competition.

They’ll bring in more RBs for the offseason, but the investment will depend on how they feel about Mason and Davis-Price. With 11 draft picks to play with, they may target one there if they think there needs to be real competition. If they’re comfortable with the Mason and Davis-Price pairing, then they may go the undrafted free agent route.

While a UDFA wouldn’t necessarily be precluded from competing for a roster spot, it would be an indicator of the team’s urgency if they wait until after the draft to add some depth to the offseason RB room.

Plenty of eyes will be on the QB room this offseason for the 49ers.  Others will be looking at how the team’s defensive front and third LB battle are shaking out, but don’t forget about that third RB spot, which could quickly become one of the team’s most important in 2023.

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49ers offseason preview: No more 3rd-round draft picks on running backs

Don’t expect any *major* changes in the 49ers’ running back room. Another offseason preview:

One of the hallmarks of Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers clubs was the ability to piece together a backfield without unloading big-time draft capital or money at running back. That got turned on its head in mid-October last season when San Francisco unloaded a quartet of draft picks to acquire RB Christian McCaffrey. Now the 49ers have a clear RB1. Whether they’re satisfied with the rest of the roster remains to be seen.

Typically a depth chart like the one the team will roll out at running back is reason to believe no major changes are coming, but it’s not beyond Shanahan and the front office to look for ways to improve at a spot that will be crucial to the development of whichever quarterback lines up under center in Week 1.

Let’s take a look at the 49ers’ backfield in the second installment of our offseason preview: