The Stock of Ty Davis-Price is Ascending

Running back Ty Davis-Price is turning heads at 49ers training camp, which is only increasing his stock.

Second year running back Ty Davis-Price was facing a bit of an uphill battle going into training camp.

Three spots at the position are already established with Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, and Jordan Mason. That means only one spot is open for the taking, and by no means was Davis-Price a lock to make the roster. The 49ers have shown they will cut a highly drafted running back if he is not proving to be a factor. It happened last year with Trey Sermon, so Davis-Price could definitely follow suit, especially after an underwhelming rookie season. 

However, Davis-Price has been a force from day one in training camp. No matter who has been asked about him, Davis-Price has received a ton of rave reviews. He's been turning heads nonstop, which is making his stock ascend. That will only increase his chances of making the roster. Much of that has to do with the improvements he has made from last season. Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have taken notice, and now offensive line coach Chris Foerster is seeing it as well. 

“It's unreal right now," said Foerster of Davis-Price's growth. "Last year, he looked good early. He looked good when we didn't have the pads on. And then all of a sudden as we started playing games, different things happened during the course of the year. It just wasn't as good. He, right now, looks like a man on a mission. He's fun to watch. And I see all the things we saw when we drafted him. He just gets to the open field, he's a load, he's fast. 

He's seeing things better. He understands the offense better. Everything about him, like all these guys, first to second year, you get here your rookie year and sometimes it's, you're just, your head starts spinning. It doesn't stop until the season's over. And Ty's been that kid that man, everything's kind of coming together for him. He looks like a different guy. He's playing very, very well. It's fun to watch.”

Foerster did not sugarcoat Davis-Price's rookie season, which is why his answer on the running back's growth is a fantastic one. Drafting Davis-Price as high as the 49ers did was a head scratcher. This offense has churned out and uplifted valiant running backs nonstop since Shanahan became head coach, so it seemed ridiculous to draft one so high since they are so adept at finding value later. 

The development of Davis-Price has also been noticed by his peers. 

"It's almost night and day," said center Jake Brendel. "It's pretty wild how much he's progressed. I feel like a lot of people, they didn't write him off, but they also didn't expect huge things from mid-season to late-season last year. But I feel like he's legitimately in the running to be a huge contender for that running back position. Anytime you see him running out of safety, it's like, 'What's going to happen there?' It's definitely something that, honestly, it's just inspiring to watch, and hopefully, he just keeps getting better."

If Davis-Price continues this ascension, then he will surely find his way to the field and make an impact. With the way things are going for him, I wouldn't be surprised if Davis-Price and Mason supplant Mitchell who is already missing time due to an injury. This is why back in July I wrote that the 49ers should slowly phase out Mitchell for Mason. He is unreliable since he is so injury prone. Now, I would like to make a revision to that article by saying the 49ers should slowly phase out Mitchell for Mason AND Davis-Price. 

For now though, Davis-Price still needs to put it altogether in an actual game starting with the first preseason matchup versus the Raiders.