Jordan Mason's most impressive strides for the 49ers have nothing to do with his running ability

Jordan Mason has rightly earned significant praise for his efforts running the football in Christian McCaffrey's absence for the San Francisco 49ers.

Mason is second in the NFL in rushing yards (247), leads the league in yards after contact (159) and is also first in broken tackles (11), per Sports Info Solutions.

The former undrafted free agent was already known as a punishing downhill runner and, while he deserves the plaudits he has received for the manner in which he has created extra yards for himself, arguably the most impressive aspect of Mason's strong start to 2024 has nothing to do with his rushing ability.

Aside from McCaffrey's previously remarkable durability amid a huge workload, one of the main reasons Mason was not able to get on the field much last year was his play in pass protection.

Through two games this year, it has not been an issue.

Indeed, Mason ranks second among all running backs in Pro Football Focus' pass block grade on true pass sets, which exclude plays with fewer than four rushers, play action, screens, short dropbacks and time-to-throws under two seconds.

Mason is yet to allow a pressure, and his performances in an area that was considered a weakness saw him receive huge credit from head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday.

Asked about Mason's performance in pass protection against an ultra-aggressive Minnesota Vikings defense in the 49ers' Week 2 loss, Shanahan told a conference call with local media: "I thought he did a real good job. He didn’t have any busts. He never missed any assignments. He got on his guys. Him and [Kyle Juszczyk] Juice both stepped up in there well. 

"They started bringing a lot of backers internally in the second half and they went in and protected him well. Their point and all that stuff is to keep the back in so you don’t have any checkdowns. But he stood in there stout and gave the quarterback time to throw."

There is clearly a significant drop-off in terms of receiving game production with Mason on the field compared to McCaffrey's tremendous impact in that area of the game. However, Mason is at least ensuring there is no such decline in protection from the running back spot. With Brock Purdy set to be under more pressure to perform with Deebo Samuel joining McCaffrey on the sideline, Mason's success in limiting the duress his quarterback faces will be even more significant.