My guess is that Elijah Mitchell and Christian McCaffrey will be the main runners with Mitchell getting early-down carries and McCaffrey having more of a change-of-pace and third-down role.

Related players: Deebo Samuel

McCaffrey was getting 85 percent of the snaps for Carolina. The author said he can’t imagine the 49ers want his snap counts that high, and the hope seems to be that he and the oft-injured Mitchell will save each other wear and tear. In another question from the mailbag, the author said they could turn to a thunder-and-lightning-and-thunder combination of Samuel, McCaffrey and Mitchell.

Deebo Samuel day-to-day with a hamstring injury

Samuel owners will want to monitor his practice status leading up to Week 8. The Nine play a later game Sunday afternoon so owners will probably need a backup plan at this point. Also keep in mind the 49ers have a bye in Week 9, leading to the possibility of sitting Samuel Week 8 with an extra week of rest.

Jeff Wilson appeared in nine games last season after recovering from a torn meniscus in a knee. When he did play, he didn't look much like the player who led the team in rushing in 2020. Another year removed from that injury, Wilson appeared to be closer to his former self in training camp, though he managed just 22 yards on nine carries after replacing Mitchell at rain-soaked Soldier Field on Sunday.

"We've always been comfortable with Jeff, just because of his experience and what he has done here," Kyle Shanahan said. "We know what we're going to get."

Related players: Elijah Mitchell, Tyrion Davis-Price, Kyle Juszczyk, Jordan Mason, Marlon Mack, Deebo Samuel

What the Niners may not be comfortable with is what's behind Wilson at this point, though. Davis-Price is a rookie who was inactive in Week 1 behind undrafted rookie Mason. Mason played on special teams, however. The team signed Mack but he couldn't make the Texans roster. It's possible Samuel sees an uptick in rushes. The team seems like a Wilson injury away from a big problem at RB.

49ers passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik noted that Lance’s rapport with receiver Brandon Aiyuk, with whom he trained this offseason, is better now than it is with other 49ers’ targets like Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, per The Athletic article.

Related Players: Deebo Samuel, George Kittle

An unrelated note from Rohan Chakravarthi (@RohanChakrav) said that Trey Lance is mainly operating less than 10 yards down the field, so maybe a dink-and-dunk, run-centric offense is going to benefit Brandon Aiyuk. At this time last year, Aiyuk was coming off of fantasy draft boards much before Deebo Samuel, possibly a year too early.

Deebo Samuel said his “wide back” role was not a factor in offseason discontent.

Related players: Elijah Mitchell

Samuel said at his presser that he's willing to do whatever it takes, and that his use as a running back wasn't an issue. If that's the case, Samuel could see continued use a running back in the team's offense this season. As we pointed out, Samuel started to see a bigger rushing role in Week 10. From Week 1 to Week 9, he averaged 6.1 catches for 110 yards and 0.50 touchdowns (for 17.6 half-PPR PPG) on 10.0 targets per game. Starting in Week 10, he averaged 3.5 catches for 65 yards and 0.25 touchdowns on 5.0 targets per game. However, he averaged 19.9 half-PPR PPG behind 43 yards rushing and 0.88 rushing touchdowns per game. He averaged 6.6 rushes per game in that span compared to just 0.8 rushes per game from Week 1 to Week 9. He finished as the overall WR3, and would once again be ranked inside the top five if we knew for certain that he was going to see a similar rushing role in 2022, though HC Kyle Shanahan did indicate in February that that would be the case.

As he continues to seek a new contract, 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is sitting out practice. But head coach Kyle Shanahan sounds confident things are going to get resolved.

Shanahan confirmed this morning that Samuel will not practice today, while adding that contract negotiations are ongoing.

Shanahan was quoted as saying Deebo and the team are in a good place despite him not practicing. As the story added, Samuel was one of the best receivers in the NFL last season while also contributing as a running back, but there were reports that Samuel wasn’t happy with the way he was being used in Shanahan’s offense. A new contract may make Samuel happy, but it’s not done yet.

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan had this to say about a potential contract with WR Deebo Samuel:

"What I do know is: I'm not worried about it not getting done," said Shanahan. "I feel very confident that Deebo's going to be on our team this year, and he's going to be for many years after. I do believe he'll get a deal. I know that they're working on it right now."

Samuel, who initially requested a trade that the team did not honor, has since reported to mandatory minicamp and is expected on the field for training camp, the story said.

49ers RB Elijah Mitchell (concussion/knee) will not play Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans.

Related Players: Jeff Wilson Jr., Deebo Samuel

Mitchell has a chance to be available for Week 17 with the extra rest coming. Wilson and Samuel take on a very good Titans run defense.

49ers RB Elijah Mitchell (knee/concussion) will miss Week 15's game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Related Players: Deebo Samuel, Jeff Wilson Jr., JaMycal Hasty

Look for Samuel and Wilson to get most of the rushing work for San Fran, with Hasty filling in during two-minute drills or a blowout.

The bottom line is that once Elijah Mitchell is back and Jeff Wilson is 100 percent — and he’s getting closer — the less of a need there will be for Deebo Samuel to play eight snaps at running back. Maybe that drops to three or four in coming weeks. That seems about right.

The question was part of a mailbag. The author pointed out maybe there’s a slightly higher risk of getting injured on runs through the A or B gaps. But it’s not like Samuel’s playing a dainty, finesse version of wide receiver, either. He’s trying to smash through tacklers every opportunity he gets, the author said.