SANTA CLARA — The 49ers had high hopes for Ty Davis-Price in his rookie season, but it might be 2023 when the former LSU ball carrier finally gets his shot on the field.
The 49ers' backfield is deep, especially after the addition of Christian McCaffrey in Week 7 last year. Elijah Mitchell entered training camp healthy and fast, while Jordan Mason is looking to increase his workload after a good start to his NFL career.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan has seen Davis-Price putting in the work in order to improve upon his six-game rookie effort. He believes the second-year player is setting himself up for success.
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“I think he’s taken a huge jump since last year,” Shanahan said. “I mean just the conditioning that he put in in Phase 1 and 2, what he did these 40 days away. Just how good he was the first day we saw him in terms of his stamina, how he’s running, understanding the offense, and what we want out of him more.
“I thought he had a great OTAs and he’s come back and he’s even having a better training camp.”
49ers run game coordinator Chris Foerster unveiled a similar Davis-Price observation in the early days of camp.
San Francisco 49ers
"He looks great. I mean, he looks really good," Foerster said to reporters Friday [h/t 49ers Webzone]. "Obviously, we've talked before about guys between their first and their second year make one of the biggest jumps. They know what to expect. They know what camp's going to be like. They know what their shortfalls were. They went through a whole offseason of being corrected on things they needed to work on. They come back out for camp, and they're ready to go.
"And he looks great right now."
Davis-Price only was active for six games in his rookie season, recording 34 carries for 99 yards after being selected in the third round by the 49ers (No. 93 overall) in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Fellow rookie ball carrier Jordan Mason, who also was seen during special teams work, was active for 16 regular season games, recording 43 carries for 258 yards.
The head coach understands that his offensive scheme can be overwhelming, even moreso considering the rigors of starting an NFL career as a ball carrier. He hopes that Davis-Price can carry the momentum he has built into the regular season.
“[It’s] just a different style, what we ask out of our guys,” Shanahan said. "It took him a little bit of time and he was going to get an opportunity early, especially when Elijah got hurt, but he got that high ankle sprain in Week 2 and then was out a month and just fell behind.”
Davis-Price was seen Sunday getting a good amount of reps carrying the ball while McCaffrey sat out with a veteran rest day. The Louisiana native recorded two receptions from Trey Lance while taking handoffs from all three backup play-callers participating in practice. Presumed starter Brock Purdy took a day off.
If Davis-Price can build on his offseason progress, he could end up being much more involved in the coming season.