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Do the 49ers Have the Best Running Back Room in the NFL?

Between Christian McCaffrey, Kyle Juszczyk, Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason and sometimes Deebo Samuel, the 49ers certainly have one of the best running back rooms in the NFL.

Grant Cohn

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) scores a touchdown in the first half of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) scores a touchdown in the first half of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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The 49ers have high-priced wide receivers and a Pro Bowl quarterback, but when opposing defenses prepare to face the 49ers offense, the first thing they have to worry about is the 49ers running backs.

Between Christian McCaffrey, Kyle Juszczyk, Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason and sometimes Deebo Samuel, the 49ers certainly have one of the best running back rooms in the NFL. That's why CBS's Tyler Sullivan ranked the 49ers' running back room in the top tier of the NFL along with the Ravens, the Eagles and the Packers.

"While Christian McCaffrey is arguably the top back in the league," writes Sullivan. "The 49ers also have capable backs like Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason, and rookie Isaac Guerendo in their stable along with fullback Kyle Juszczyk."

Sullivan is correct that McCaffrey might be the best running back in the NFL right now -- he just won the Offensive Player of the Year Award. He's so good that the other running backs rarely carry the ball. So it's hard to know just how good Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason currently are. And Kyle Juszczyk is more of a tight end than a running back, considering he blocks and catches passes but rarely carries the ball.

Meanwhile, other teams have multiple running backs who gain 1,000 yards in a season. The Lions have David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs who combined for 2,393 yards from scrimmage and 24 touchdowns last season. And the Dolphins have Raheem Mostert and Devon Achane who combined for 2,184 yards from scrimmage and 32 touchdowns last season.

So the 49ers might have the best running back, but I wouldn't say they have the best running back room.

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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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