Despite a wild offseason that saw three of the most important 49ers stars miss significant time with either contract issues or injuries, the 2024 season got off to a convincing start for the defending NFC champs, thanks to a dominating 32-19 win over the Jets on Monday Night Football. And the name that stood out the most was one that has mostly been bubbling in the background for the past two years: Jordan Mason.
In all, the undrafted rookie the 49ers signed in 2022 pummeled the Jets defense for 147 yards on 28 carries, with a touchdown, as he filled in for the injured Christian McCaffrey, who has been dealing with calf and Achilles tendon problems that bothered him throughout the preseason.
Few were happier for Mason than quarterback Brock Purdy, who came into the NFL at the same time as Mason and was nearly undrafted, too — Purdy was taken with the final pick of that year’s draft. Purdy’s message for Mason: Keep pushing.
“Just coming in, rookie year, trying to learn the playbook together, he and I would meet a lot and go through everything,” Purdy told reporters after the game. “So he’s always had that drive to learn. And knowing that we were guys — that I was the last pick and he was undrafted — knowing that we weren’t going to have a lot of opportunities and we had to make the most of the opportunities that we got.
“He’s earned it, man. He’s the kind of guy that it was not given to him, and so to see him go out and do what he did tonight, man, I’m so happy for him. And I know he’s going to keep pushing.”
Jordan Mason Took Over RB2 Job This Summer
Mason had opportunities to take over the top job with the 49ers this offseason thanks to the injuries to McCaffrey, who was a late scratch for Week 1. He muscled his way ahead of oft-injured Elijah Mitchell for the role of McCaffrey’s backup in training camp, which was not a major surprise because of the way he’d played when given chances in the last two years.
Mason had 43 carries for 243 yards and a touchdown as a rookie, an average of 6.0 yards per carry. He came back with 206 yards on 40 carries, a 5.2-yard average, and tallied 3 touchdowns in 2023. He, notably, had 69 yards on 10 carries in a blowout win over the Cowboys in Week 5.
“I feel great, man, I feel blessed,” Mason said on an ESPN video after the game. “I been working for this moment.”
49ers Teammates Push Conditioning
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that one of the keys for Mason was to get himself in top condition, to become one of the “obsessive” types who populate the 49ers roster.
“I think Jordan’s really pushed himself each year of just the way he’s worked off the field, being more conditioned,” Shanahan said.
“He’s never been badly conditioned, but we got some guys in our building, like Christian, guys like Fred [Warner], Juice [fullback Kyle Juszczyk], George [Kittle], guys who are very obsessive with how they work out, how they condition themselves, how they eat, how they sleep. And I think that stuff’s really rubbed off on [Mason] over the years.”
It showed in Week 1. And Mason might get a chance to show it again in Week 2 because the team is still uncertain about McCaffrey’s health for the matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
This article was originally published on Heavy.com
