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Why 49ers RB Jordan Mason is an Elite Ball Carrier

Jordan Mason might not be the best overall running back in the NFL right now, but it's hard to find one who carries the ball better than he does.

Grant Cohn

Sep 15, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason (24) runs with the ball against the Minnesota Vikings in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
Sep 15, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason (24) runs with the ball against the Minnesota Vikings in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
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Jordan Mason might not be the best overall running back in the NFL right now, but it's hard to find one who carries the ball better than he does.

The 49ers' current starting running back is not the best receiver out of the backfield, although he's pretty good at running routes and catching passes when given the opportunity. But when it comes to the most basic thing a running back has to do -- run the ball -- he's as good as anyone. He might be better than Christian McCaffrey. And that's no knock on the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.

McCaffrey was a top-10 pick for a reason -- he's a great athlete. And Mason was an undrafted free agent for a reason -- he's not particularly fast and he's not extremely shifty. He doesn't juke NFL defenders and make them miss the way McCaffrey can.

Here's what makes Mason so special: He has elite vision, he's decisive and he delivers the first blow. That means he doesn't get hit -- he hits people. When a linebacker runs over to tackle him, Mason lowers his shoulder and knocks the linebacker backward. Consistently. That's why Mason gets so many yards after contact. He beats defenders to the punch and literally drags them with him.

In that sense, Mason might be the most violent runner the NFL has seen since Marshawn Lynch. And Lynch was one of the greatest running backs of his generation, arguably a future Hall of Famer. I'm not saying Mason is destined for Canton, but I am saying he could lead the league in rushing if he starts 17 games. He's that good.

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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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