Who will rush for more yards if Elijah Mitchell misses extended time?

With the joint practices in Las Vegas beginning on Thursday, Kyle Shanahan stated the starters won’t play much, if at all. Elijah Mitchell wouldn’t be available regardless while nursing another injury during training camp.

The buzz around training camp is Tyrion Davis-Price has taken a leap in his second year out of LSU. This is the best-case scenario with the number of injuries the 49ers’ running backs have sustained in past years. Christian McCaffrey played in all 17 games in 2022, but it’s widely known that as important as he is, it is more important to keep him fresh and have backups to spell him.

McCaffrey is going to be on the field more than any back. Mitchell, on the other hand, continues to play well when healthy. The issue is: Mitchell has been injured far more than he has been available.

Jordan Mason was last year’s training camp darling. Mason made the initial 53-man roster but was used much more on special teams. Davis-Price was selected in the third round but was inactive most game days due to his learning curve in the system and inability to contribute to special teams.

Mason ended last season as a “closer” in certain games after McCaffrey’s addition and the loss of Mitchell to injury, and Jeff Wilson Jr’s departure for Miami.

By all accounts, it sounds like Davis-Price is developing. Mason is running routes on the outside also during training camp. Both of these developments fall in line with Assistant Coach and Running Backs Coach Anthony Lynn’s statements early in the offseason.

Lynn stated it’s important for the running back room to be as diverse with their skill set as McCaffrey is to maintain play-calling rhythm and unpredictability. Lynn specifically mentioned Davis-Price and Mason as players who have worked on catching the ball out of the backfield.

So the question becomes: if Mitchell misses time, which player will rush for more yards?

Mason has shown flashes on the field and put good things on tape but is valuable on special teams. While Davis-Price is earning rave reviews following training camp, will it translate to the field?

Who do you think will rush for more yards if Mitchell is unavailable?