SANTA CLARA — Ty Davis-Price has come into 49ers training camp with a new sense of urgency, and there’s more than a few people taking notice.
Before Saturday's practice, 49ers run game coordinator Chris Foerster shared how the running back has changed in his second NFL season.
“It’s unreal right now,” Foerster said. “Last year, he looked good early. He looked good when we didn’t have the pads on. And then all of a sudden as we started playing games, different things happened during the course of the year. It just wasn’t as good.
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“He, right now, looks like a man on a mission.”
Davis-Price suffered a high ankle sprain early in his rookie campaign and never really got back up to speed during the 2022 NFL season. The 49ers had high expectations for the third-round draft pick, but he only registered 34 carries for 99 yards over six game appearances.
“He’s fun to watch,” Foerster said. “I see all the things we saw when we drafted him. He just gets to the open field, he’s a load, he’s fast. He’s seeing things better. He understands the offense better.
“Everything about him, like all these guys, first to second year, you get here your rookie year and sometimes it’s, you’re just, your head starts spinning. It doesn’t stop until the season’s over. And Ty’s been that kid that, man, everything’s kind of coming together for him. He looks like a different guy. He’s playing very, very well.”
San Francisco 49ers
Davis-Price has gotten a lot of reps throughout the first three weeks of training camp and has shown the explosiveness he was known for at LSU when he ran for over 1,000 yards in 2021. Now, the young back is poised to be as productive at the next level.
Christian McCaffrey leads the running backs group, but with Elijah Mitchell sidelined with an adductor injury (day-to-day), Davis-Price will be given an opportunity to show what he is capable of. Jordan (J.P.) Mason also has received his fair share of reps and has a lock on a roster spot for his rushing ability, as well as for his role on special teams.
Foerster is not the only one who has noticed the reinvigorated running of Davis-Price during training camp. Center Jake Brendel also has noticed the shift of the 22-year-old's efforts on the field.
“It’s pretty wild how much he has progressed,” Brendel said on Saturday. “This season I feel like he is legitimately in the running to be a huge contender for that running back position.
"Any time you see him running at a safety, it’s like, ‘What’s going to happen there?’ It’s definitely something that’s been inspiring to watch, and hopefully it just keeps getting better.”
The game has seemed to slow down for Davis-Price, who has been hitting the right holes on his carries as well as being a reliable receiver. The youngster will need to do it all in coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system.
"The confidence that he has, he understands now what he’s reading on a draw,” Foerster said. “He’s not guessing. He knows, he sees it and he hits it.”