Who Will Lead The 49ers Backfield With Elijah Mitchell Out Two Months?

With Elijah Mitchell out for two months, who will lead the 49ers backfield? And will that running back have fantasy football value in 2022?

The San Francisco 49ers will be without running back Elijah Mitchell for approximately two months as he deals with a sprained MCL.

Jeff Wilson Jr. is behind Mitchell on the depth chart. Is he the running back to target with Mitchell out?

Let's take a quick look at what this San Fran backfield looks like now.

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What Happened To Elijah Mitchell?

Elijah Mitchell suffered a sprained MCL against the Bears on Sunday.

The Week 1 contest between the Bears and 49ers was a messy affair, as wet weather really made it tough for players to find their footing. But it was actually a low hit from Eddie Jackson that appears to have been the cause of the injury, not the wet grass.

Mitchell ran the ball six times for 41 yards in the game, playing a total of 17 offensive snaps before he went down.

What Is Jeff Wilson Jr.'s Fantasy Football Value Now?

It appears that Jeff Wilson Jr. will step into the starting role for the 49ers now.

Historically, Wilson has been really good in that role. As the tweet above from Dave Kluge states, Wilson has averaged 17.6 PPR points per game as a starter.

By now, waivers have mostly run, so your question isn't "should I pick up Wilson." That was an easy answer: yes, you should have. But now the question is about his fantasy value. His situation is different now than it was in the past since Trey Lance and Deebo Samuel will siphon off some snaps, but consider Wilson to be a solid RB2 right now.

Wilson finished Sunday with nine carries and two targets. The yardage wasn't there, but we can likely blame a good bit of that on the weather.

Could Tyrion Davis-Price or Jordan Mason Have A Role?

Neither Tyrion Davis-Price nor Jordan Mason saw the field in Week 1. TDP was inactive in Week 1, while Mason was active, but only played on special teams.

Mason being active last week and TDP not being active might suggest that Mason is the one with the advantage here, but considering neither has an offensive snap yet, we might want to slow down.

TDP could come in and serve as the primary backup to Wilson this week. So could Mason.

But for fantasy purposes, neither player has a clear path to snaps. Wilson didn't have a single carry until after Mitchell exited. Deebo Samuel is probably the "backup" to Wilson now, with neither TDP nor Mason seeing the field enough to be fantasy- relevant.

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