Raheem Mostert Injury: Fantasy Football Rapid Reaction (2021)

We’re back to provide the rapid reaction to the injury that forced Raheem Mostert to exit Week 1 and the fantasy football impact on the rest of the San Francisco 49ers’ roster.

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The Details of the Injury

49ers RB Raheem Mostert (knee) will be placed on IR and will be out approximately eight weeks after chipping cartilage in his knee.

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How does Raheem Mostert’s injury impact the San Francisco 49ers?

The main beneficiary of Mostert’s injury was rookie Elijah Mitchell. Mitchell is a hot waiver wire topic this week after rumbling for 104 yards and a score on 19 carries against the Detroit Lions. Our analysts debate the merit of grabbing Mitchell off waivers.

Check out our full Week 1 Waiver Wire Advice article here

Raheem Mostert is expected to miss eight weeks with his knee injury and Trey Sermon was a surprise inactive because Kyle Shanahan reportedly didn’t view him as one of the top running back options on the team. Given the opportunity against an admittedly soft opponent, Mitchell rumbled for 104 yards and a score on 19 carries. Mitchell may have a clear role to a dominant share of the running back carries in a Shanahan offense – that’s a player who should be a priority pickup in every league.
– Dan Harris (@danharris80)

That Elijah Mitchell had passed Trey Sermon on the 49ers’ depth chart was a well-kept secret within team HQ and took us all by surprise. Sermon could certainly bubble up to the surface and become a coveted asset at some point, but for now, we have to play the ball as it lies, as they say in golf. Raheem Mostert has a knee injury that’s going to cost him eight weeks, so he should be back at some point, and presumably, he’ll be either No. 1 or 1a in this backfield once he’s back. But for now, Elijah Mitchell is the RB1 on a strong team with a very good offensive line. Never mind Mitchell’s sixth-round pedigree; he ran a 4.35 at his pro day and has impressive balance through contact. A robust bid of 50%-60% of FAAB wouldn’t be too much (and might not be enough, quite frankly).
– Pat Fitzmaurice (@Fitz_FF)

Elijah Mitchell’s going to be a very hot waiver wire add this week, but he was very difficult for me to rank. He was able to put together a big performance due to the matchup and the fact that Raheem Mostert left this game early on with an injury. With the news that Raheem Mostert is now on IR and out for the next 8 weeks minimum, Mitchell’s going to have every opportunity to keep this starting job with Trey Sermon inexplicably benched. However, he’s not going to get to play the Detroit Lions defense every single week. Mitchell should be added in every format, but I’m not dropping more than 10-15% of my FAAB on him. This backfield is a complete mystery right now, so don’t drop Trey Sermon either. There’s a strong possibility that the 49ers come out next week and Sermon is the player that sees 19 carries and Mitchell takes a back seat to him.
– Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL)

Here are our analysts’ Rest of Season rankings for Mostert, Mitchell, and Sermon for half-PPR formats:

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