Through two games as the San Francisco 49ers' starting running back in place of the injured Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason has 247 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He is second in the NFL in rushing, having racked up the most yards for a back in his first two career starts for the 49ers in franchise history.
Averaging 5.1 yards per carry, Mason continues to thrive with hugely impressive decisiveness and burst, along with an innate ability to evade and go through defenders to pick up yards after contact. Were he to play the entire year and keep up this incredible pace, Mason would end the campaign with over 2,000 yards rushing.
And yet there is clearly some reason to be concerned about the 49ers' situation at running back despite his remarkable start to 2024.
The passing game problem
As Brock Purdy often struggled to deal with the complexities of Brian Flores' ultra-aggressive defense in the 49ers' Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, it was obvious San Francisco desperately lacked the passing game outlet McCaffrey has provided since his trade from the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
Mason worked extremely hard on his pass-catching ability in the offseason in a successful effort to establish himself as the primary backup to McCaffrey.
There were snaps where he was available as an open checkdown option out of the backfield against Minnesota but, while it is often said the box score doesn't tell the full story, in the case of Mason's receiving production in Week 2, it spoke a thousand words.
One catch, four yards.
In his entire 49ers career, McCaffrey has had just one regular-season game in which he only had a single reception. He has never had fewer than eight receiving yards.
Asked about if he had noticed a difference in how teams are defending the 49er offense without McCaffrey, Purdy said: "I think just being able to drop back in zone and not having to put two guys on a running back coming out of the backfield like Christian.
"Outside of that, man, like Brian Flores and his scheme has been his scheme. He did what he's done on tape today. They're just really, really good at it, so for me to sit here to say that without Christian on the field, they didn't do this or that, it's hard to tell. It's just -- tip of the cap to Brian Flores."
Tight end George Kittle was more emphatic.
"Christian is the offensive MVP for a reason. He was in the MVP voting for a reason. He had 20-plus touchdowns for a reason. Because he does it all in the pass game, in the run game. It's really fun because it's like having Deebo [Samuel] and him (is) just interchangeable. Like, you'll have Christian running routes and then all of a sudden you put a Mike linebacker on him and Deebo's in the backfield. You have no idea what you're going to get. So it just gives us another dimension. He has an incredible impact on this team. You know, just him being around, he boosts everyone's confidence. But, I mean, I still think we could have (won Sunday). We won last week. I think we had opportunities to find a way to win today, and we just didn't. But, yeah, it's just, there's things we can't do without Christian."
It's evident Mason cannot do everything McCaffrey does, and it would be unfair to place such expectations on him. However, the difference in their skill sets limits an offense that went two of four in the red zone and two of 10 on third down in the Niners' 23-17 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Relieving the burden
A less obvious problem is the extent to which they are relying on Mason in the running game. Mason had 20 carries on Sunday, six days on from racking up 28 in the season-opening win over the New York Jets, the most ever for a 49ers running back under Shanahan.
Shanahan last week expressed faith rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. to make an impact as the backups behind Mason. On Sunday, Guerendo had one carry for zero yards. Taylor did not see the field on offense.
The question becomes whether that is sustainable. In the offseason, the 49ers backed McCaffrey to be the bell cow into his 30s by signing him to an extension. His body has already betrayed him. Mason is only 25, but the 49ers should be wary of placing too much of the burden on his shoulders.
San Francisco traded up in the fourth round to snag Guerendo, it would be a huge boost during McCaffrey's absence if the 49ers' rookie home-run hitter could take some of the load off Mason.
That isn't as pronounced of an issue as the lack of passing game influence out of the backfield in the opening two games. The 49ers have scored 49 points across the first two weeks and would have had more if not for a goal-line stand from Minnesota in the second quarter. San Francisco's offense is still productive, but it isn't the juggernaut it was with McCaffrey last year.
Mason is not at fault for the drop-off. He's quickly and decisively proven why he was deserving of ascending to the number two spot, even if he did so with the help of an Elijah Mitchell injury. It's on Shanahan to fix the downsides that have come with him being catapulted into the starting role. Things could get much more troubling for the 49er offense if he fails to do so.
