What is Elijah Mitchell's 40 time?

While the San Francisco 49ers added one of the best, if not the best, running backs in the league with Christian McCaffrey, one can say that it came with a cost to another RB of theirs, Elijah Mitchell. Mitchell was drafted in the 6th round of the 2021 NFL draft as the 194th overall pick. Even though he was not the highest of draft picks in the class, Mitchell showed a lot of promise in his rookie season with 963 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs, 137 receiving yards, and 1 receiving TD.

When we dive deeper into Mitchell’s skills, he has tremendous versatility and is a bit of a do-it-all kind of player. He has a reliable rushing ability, good receiving skills, and also has the pass blocking prowess. This has made him a great second option and could be useful in McCaffrey’s usage in the postseason. Mitchell also possesses a lot of patience and good vision. He waits for running lanes to open up and hits them with a lot of power when the opportunity arrives. This leads to consistent yardage gains even against tight coverages.

The biggest concern for Mitchell has been his health. He only played 11 games in his rookie season, 5 games in his second year in the league, and 11 games again in the 2023 season. Out of the 27 total career games, he has started in 12 of them. An MCL injury and the addition of McCaffrey to the team have greatly hampered his production. After an impressive rookie season, his numbers have dipped and he has a total of 428 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns combined from the 2022 and 2023 NFL seasons. While he is on the field, Mitchell has shown flashes of being an elite running back at times but there is just not enough sample size to determine his greatness.

Mitchell is a starter-level running back when healthy, so it is a shame that staying healthy and playing a full season is not something that Mitchell has done so far.

Also Read: Elijah Mitchell College

Elijah Mitchell’s 40 time

Mitchell clocked his 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds which was at the 97th percentile. He had some of the best combine results in the draft where he completed his 10-yard split in 1.51 seconds which was at the 86th percentile. His 20-yard split was completed in 2.44 seconds which was at the 99th percentile and his broad jump was at the 94th percentile.

Due to his elite display of athleticism at the NFL Combine, many fans still wonder what could be Mitchell’s ceiling as a running back in the league. However, to start with, Mitchell needs to be fully healthy for a season and provide consistent backup support to McCaffrey.

Also Read: Elijah Mitchell Parents