The San Francisco 49ers traded backup running back Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for draft picks. The Niners should turn to a familiar face in Jeff Wilson as an affordable replacement in the backfield.
Mason was thrust into the spotlight in the 2024 season for San Francisco after star running back Christian McCaffrey missed the first half of the season due to injury. The 25-year-old Mason did admirably for the 49ers, rushing for 789 yards in 12 games before he, too, eventually went down with an injury.
The decision to trade Mason is a bit puzzling when one considers that the Niners had to burn through practically their entire running back depth chart to get through the disaster that was the 2024 season. The optics of it make it seem like the team is just being cheap, which is a theme to this offseason.
Nonetheless, the 49ers now have a spot to fill on their running back depth chart. McCaffrey figures to be the starting running back, unless San Francisco decides to trade him, too, and Isaac Guerendo will most likely be the backup assuming he's healthy.
That still means the 49ers will need at least one or two more running backs on the team to ensure they have reserves if the injury nightmares from 2024 continue into 2025.
That is why the Niners should bring back a familiar face in running back Jeff Wilson.
Jeff Wilson makes sense for 49ers
Wilson, like Mason, signed as an undrafted free agent with San Francisco after no team selected him in the NFL Draft. He went on to be a solid player for San Francisco, rushing for 1,733 yards and 15 touchdowns across five seasons with the 49ers. He was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2022 after the 49ers acquired McCaffrey, and he has been there with head coach Mike McDaniel ever since.
The 29-year-old Wilson has not had a ton of opportunities the past few seasons with former Niner Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane ahead of him on the depth chart. Last season, Wilson only had 16 rush attempts for 57 yards in nine games.
That means the Niners can get him on the cheap, which seems to be the general ethos of their offseason thus far. We know he is familiar with head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense and has been successful in it in the past, so he would make sense as a depth piece for the team in 2025.
