Why Jordan Mason’s breakout game wasn’t a surprise to 49ers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers sifted through potential late round and undrafted free agent running back options in the 2022 NFL draft when Jordan Mason‘s name first came up.

A survey of the room allowed the scouting staff and running backs coach Bobby Turner to identify Mason as a possible addition to an ever-increasing line of under-the-radar backs to join the Niners.

But before any of that could happen, coach Kyle Shanahan looked closer at Mason’s college résumé and wondered why he wasn’t starting in his final season at Georgia Tech. As it turned out, Mason was the backup to Jahmyr Gibbs, who would go on to star at Alabama and become the No. 12 pick of the Detroit Lions in the 2023 draft.

“I thought that was a pretty good reason to be a backup,” Shanahan said. “I believe [he] was a three-year starter before his senior year. He did have a hell of a college career. His style has always been like this.”

It’s Mason’s hard-charging approach that has transformed him from little known undrafted rookie to one of the stars of the NFL’s opening week. With Christian McCaffrey dealing with a calf injury and Achilles tendinitis, Mason made his first NFL start against the New York Jets on Monday.

He emerged not just as McCaffrey’s replacement but as the focal point of an offense otherwise loaded with household names, finishing with 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown with one five-yard catch. It was the second-most rushing yards by any NFL player in Week 1 and the most rushing attempts by any 49er in a regular-season game since Shanahan took over in 2017.

While Mason might not be a polished route-runner like McCaffrey, he makes up for it with a bruising, decisive style that makes it hard for a single defender to bring him down.

“He’s a dense, sturdy guy and he just runs downhill very physically,” tight end George Kittle said. “Hopefully he can just keep doing that.”

Mason’s breakout performance wasn’t a total surprise — he has been doing something similar in small quantities almost from the time he arrived in San Francisco. He hasn’t had the opportunities to author a bigger sample of success because he’s stuck behind McCaffrey who, since arriving via trade in 2022, had only missed one game (2023 Week 18) for the 49ers before Monday.

Mason was limited to the role of occasional “closer” in his first couple of years. McCaffrey has referred to Mason as San Francisco’s Mariano Rivera (New York Yankees‘ Hall of Fame closer) because he uses his 5-11, 223-pound frame to batter defenses in the fourth quarter after they tire from chasing McCaffrey all over the field for the first three.

Mason embraced that role but had just 83 carries through his first two seasons. He averaged 5.6 yards per attempt but was still learning how to be more of an all-around back who could take on a bigger role.

It’s at least partially why Mason was not only behind McCaffrey but also Elijah Mitchell for most of his first two years. Mitchell was placed on injured reserve last month with a hamstring injury and will miss the 2024 season.

To climb the depth chart, Mason has taken the necessary steps to become the complete player Turner and Shanahan demand of their primary backs. First and foremost on the checklist? Getting on the same page with Turner, the legendary running backs coach who in eight years with the 49ers has coached four undrafted backs to post at least one 100-yard rushing game.

In running back meetings, Turner would ask questions. Mason would rarely answer because, as he says, “I simply didn’t know.”

“He needed to grow up, become a pro,” Turner said during training camp. “I’m very detailed, very demanding. Not that other coaches aren’t. Not only answering, but I want the correct answer.

“The bottom line is he grew up.”

In many ways, quarterback Brock Purdy and Mason have grown up together. They arrived as rookies in 2022 with little fanfare and even fewer expectations. Mason and Purdy realized early on that opportunities wouldn’t be handed to them, so they spent countless hours helping each other learn Shanahan’s voluminous playbook.

The results weren’t immediate. When Purdy and Mason got the opportunity to play in the fourth quarter of a 2022 Week 11 win against the Arizona Cardinals in Mexico City, Purdy took a snap out of the pistol with Mason behind him. Purdy caught the snap and turned left to hand the ball to Mason. The only problem was Mason had gone right, leaving a broken play that Purdy turned into a 5-yard gain of his own.

“To see him over the last two years, just push the envelope more and more every year,” Purdy said. “He’s earned it. He’s the kind of guy that it was not given to him. … I’m so happy for him and I know he is going to keep pushing.”

McCaffrey’s presence opened Mason’s eyes to what it takes to become an effective pass catcher while playing running back. To that end, Mason spent $3,000 to purchase a Jugs machine in the offseason. When Mason was back home in Tennessee, his father would shoot passes to Mason as he worked on his route running.

In his first two seasons, Mason was targeted just four times on 37 routes. Against the Jets, Mason was only targeted once but he made the catch for 5 yards and a first down.

When Mason wasn’t in Tennessee, he remained in the Bay Area working out with the guys charged with tackling him: the linebackers. With Fred Warner, Curtis Robinson and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles as workout partners, Mason quickly took to the competitive elements of mundane tasks like running and lifting weights. Those sessions also helped Mason improve as a blocker, which allowed him to play a career-high 59 offensive snaps against the Jets, more than double his previous high.

“It is cool to see the young, naive, undrafted rookie that comes in here and now to see him as somebody that we can trust,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. “He really stepped things up and was able to start being utilized in the pass game and understanding all of his protections and all the little things because there’s so much more to being a running back in this offense than just running the ball.”

NFL players who emerge two or three years into their career often talk about how the game slows down for them as they get more accustomed to the league.

But Mason says everything is still moving 100 miles per hour, which is why he doesn’t intend to take his foot off the gas any time soon. For whenever his next opportunity arrives — which could be Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings (1 p.m. ET, CBS) — he knows there’s no time to waste looking backward.

“You just got to have that heart,” Mason said. “You got to have that dog in you to want it. It builds up and you just play with all you got.”