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A Former NFL Player's Assessment of Ty Davis-Price

"He fits what Kyle Shanahan wants."

Grant Cohn

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Previously, I got former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker to break down 49ers rookie wide receiver Danny Gray.

Now, here's Crocker's take on 49ers rookie running back Ty Davis-Price.

"I try to separate the player from the value, because the running back value (in Round 3) is not very high. And it depends on what you're drafting this guy for. Now, if you're talking about drafting Najee Harris in the first round, or even some of these other guys like Kenneth Walker and Breece Hall who went top of the second round this year, those are going to be every-down backs, so I understand it. But if you're telling me you're drafting (Davis-Price) to be more of an insurance policy because you've had a lot of backs injured last season and you had to use Deebo Samuel in that role, that's when I feel a little bit weird about the pick, because when it comes to finding running backs who not only can fill in but contribute, the 49ers have done very well with either late-round draft picks or undrafted guys. The last four leading rushers for the 49ers have been either undrafted or a sixth-round pick in Elijah Mitchell. From that standpoint, I don't understand the value.

"Now, the player, I like him. I think he fits what Kyle Shanahan wants. He puts his foot in the ground and gets north right now. There are some things he does that reminds me of Frank Gore. I remember watching Gore run and he turned a play that was blocked up for one yards, he turned into a three- or four-yard gain. And with Davis-Price I saw some of that where he was able to dip and get skinny through the A or B gaps, and then once he gets through there, he has enough speed and power and mass to be able to run through defenders at the second level. Because of his size and speed, a lot of people really didn't want to tackle him in the open field, so he would make guys miss. He'll run through arm tackles. His vision is terrific. So I like the pick if you're telling me they brought him in to compete with Elijah Mitchell for the starting spot or maybe even take it. So overall, I like the player better than I like the value."

Watch the full breakdown below:

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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