Top Week 7 Waiver Wire Adds: Should You Add 49ers’ Elijah Mitchell or Jordan Mason?
Week 6 of the NFL season has almost come and gone, with just the Monday night game remaining. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the better waiver wire options available going into week 7.
A lot of the waiver wire additions for week 7 are up there because of injuries to star players. A couple of the top waiver wire guys are San Francisco 49ers running backs Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason, as the health of starter Christian McCaffrey is in question.
We’ll keep an eye out for news on McCaffrey, but he’s likely going to be less than 100% for at least a couple weeks, so which backup should you be targeting? Let’s discuss.
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Week 6 Showings
The 49ers suffered a surprising loss to the Cleveland Browns in week 6. Cleveland knocked off San Francisco behind backup quarterback P.J. Walker, who didn’t even put up any great numbers.
McCaffrey received 14 touches in the contest, rushing for 43 yards on 11 carries and added nine receiving yards and a touchdown on three grabs. The star back left with an oblique injury. He did briefly come back in the contest, so my initial guess is that it’s not going to be a long-term injury.
Still, McCaffrey is the heart of the San Fran offense and the team is going to need him healthy in order to accomplish all of its goals. With a still strong 5-1 record, I expect the 49ers to play things safe with McCaffrey if they can.
Mason and Mitchell both played in the contest against Cleveland. Mason played 15 snaps to just seven for Mitchell.
Mason was the better producer, rushing for 27 yards and a touchdown on five carries. He had a long run of 10 yards. Mitchell rushed twice for negative-3 yards.
Even though Mason has been the better back of late, I’m not sure that necessarily means he’ll be the more utilized backup, or starter if McCaffrey does miss time.
Running Back Fantasy Outlook
The reason I don’t look at the last few games between Mason and Mitchell to determine the top backup option is because Mitchell is dealing with a knee injury. He’s been on the injury report the last couple weeks, and probably is being eased back into action.
Mitchell has been with the 49ers since 2021. That season, he rushed for 963 yards and five touchdowns across 11 games and 10 starts. He also caught 19 of the 20 passes for 137 yards and a score.
Mitchell played in just five games in 2022, rushing for 279 yards and two scores. He caught three of his four targets for just 7 yards.
This season, Mitchell has appeared in three games, rushing for 49 yards on 18 carries and catching three of his four targets for 2 yards. His games have come in weeks 1, 3 and 6, and he hasn’t played more than 35% of the team’s offensive snaps in any contest.
Mason has been with San Fran since 2022. He rushed for 258 yards and a touchdown on 43 attempts as a rookie, but didn’t catch a pass.
This season, Mason has 117 rushing yards and two scores on 21 carries. He’s added one catch on two targets for 13 yards. He’s played offensive snaps in weeks 2-6, but hasn’t played more than 25% of the snaps in any game.
Right now, Mason looks like the better option of the two, but I’d expect Mitchell to be the better long-term backup option, and if McCaffrey were to miss a couple games, Mitchell probably would be the starter given what he did as a rookie in 2021.
That doesn’t make choosing one of the two backs on the waiver wire this week any easier though. Mitchell is owned in 35% of leagues, while Mason is owned in just 4%.
You likely don’t have room to add both guys, but if you are worried about McCaffrey, then you might try and add both backups. You likely won’t be able to wait to hear news on McCaffrey, as that could come after your league’s waiver wire period is already finished for the week.
Who Should You Add?
If I had to pick between the two backups for one roster spot, I’d guess that Mitchell is going to be the better option. He might not be for a week or two, but over time I think he’ll regain his top backup status behind McCaffrey. I think the 49ers would much rather lean on Mitchell than Mason if McCaffrey misses time.
As mentioned before though, with McCaffrey coming back into the game in week 6, my gut tells me it won’t be a long-term injury. So adding Mitchell or Mason is probably only going to be necessary for a couple weeks until McCaffrey is full go again.
If you aren’t desperate for a running back and simply are looking for the best player the next couple weeks, then I think Mason is your guy. He’s likely going to outplay and outsnap Mitchell again at least in week 7, so he’ll have a better fantasy day. The team trusts him enough to get red zone touches, and with the offense’s ability to move the ball up and down the field, he’s got a decent chance to score again in week 7.
In deeper leagues and especially dynasty leagues, I think Mason also is the better option. Mitchell might be the top backup more often than not the rest of this season, but his injury woes will likely keep him from sticking with the organization long term. Mason has been solid in limited chances so far, and I could see him being the top backup as early as next season - if he doesn’t overtake Mitchell at some point this season.
