Kyle Shanahan has shown nothing but trust in Elijah Mitchell’s ability to be his workhorse, and it started in Week 1.
Mitchell has only had 2 games this year in which he didn’t have at least 17 carries. One of those games was Trey Lance’s first start in Week 5 (also Mitchell’s first game back from injury) in which Lance had 16 carries himself.
In his second game with Lance in Week 17, Mitchell had 21 carries to Lance’s 8.
The second was also against Arizona, in which they got down early… at least Mitchell was able to stay on the field and catch all 5 of his targets in addition to his 9 carries.
Mitchell showed that he belongs; he was 4th among all RBs (min. 100 carries) in yards after contact/attempt.
He has been heavily relied on this season, and he’s produced, going over 85 rushing yards in 8 of his 12 games.
Jeff Wilson has been around, but there is no timeshare. He can leave as a free agent after this season, and the same goes for Raheem Mostert as well.
I don’t see Trey Sermon coming in as anything but a backup in 2022. I pegged Mitchell as a potential workhorse sleeper before the 2021 NFL draft, and it looks like Shanahan will continue to ride him throughout the playoffs and into 2022.
There has always been value in this elite scheme and behind that offensive line, but the work has been divided up between a few backs. There was always the possibility that this happens once Shanahan had his guy… just remind yourself who his RBs were over the past few years, and that distribution will start to make sense to you.
My guess is that Mitchell won’t have a redraft ADP in the first 3 rounds, making him a potential value if that’s the case.