The 49ers on Saturday added some firepower and depth on both sides of the ball by activating four players off IR.
RB Elijah Mitchell, LB Azeez Al-Shaair, DE Jordan Willis and OT Colton McKivitz were all activated per ESPN’s Field Yates. All four players had their practice windows opened for their Week 10 practices.
Mitchell, Al-Shaair and McKivitz all suffered sprained MCLs within three weeks of each other. Mitchell’s happened in the season opener. Al-Shaair’s happened Week 3 and McKivitz had his in Week 4. For Willis, he’d been dealing with a knee injury since before the start of the year.
Mitchell figures to make the biggest impact. Even with RB Christian McCaffrey in the backfield the 49ers could deploy another running back with McCaffrey lined up as a receiver. The 2021 sixth-round pick is averaging 4.7 yards per carry on 213 attempts in his career. He had six carries for 41 yards before his injury against the Bears back in Week 1.
Al-Shaair should also help the defense in the second level. He’ll slide into the starting Sam linebacker role and back up Will LB Dre Greenlaw. McKivitz and Willis will both add depth to the line on their respective sides of the ball, though Willis could see some rotational action against the Chargers.
