Elijah I. Mitchell (born May 2, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Early life and high school

Mitchell grew up in

Erath, Louisiana Erath is a town in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,114 at the 2010 census, and 2,030 at the 2020 population estimates program. It is part of the Abbeville micropolitan statistical area. History Erath is named a ...

and attended Erath High School, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

. As a senior, he only played in eight games due to injury but still rushed for 1,903 yards and 28 touchdowns. In three seasons as Erath's starting running back, Mitchell rushed for 4,045 yards and 50 touchdowns on 457 carries.

College career

Mitchell played college football for his home state of Louisiana at the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

. Mitchell rushed for 257 yards and four touchdowns on 42 carries as a freshman before breaking a bone in his foot and missing the rest of the season. As a sophomore, he rushed for 977 yards and 13 touchdowns and caught 20 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns and was named Second-team All-

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

. In his junior season Mitchell was again named second-team All-Sun Belt after rushing for 1,147 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. In his final season with the Cajuns, Mitchell was once again the team’s leading running back and was named first-team All-Sun Belt after carrying the ball 141 times for 878 yards with eight touchdowns and also caught 16 passes for another 153 yards. In total Mitchell played in 42 games and carried the ball 527 times in college for 3,267 yards with 41 rushing touchdowns, he also caught 49 passes for 597 yards and five touchdowns.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Mitchell was drafted by the

in the sixth round, 194th overall, of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

. He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 13, 2021.

2021 season

Mitchell made his NFL debut in the season-opening 41-33 road victory over the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, finishing with 19 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown. During a Week 7 30-18 loss to the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, he had 18 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown. In the next game against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, Mitchell had 18 carries for 137 yards and a touchdown in the 33–22 road victory. During a Week 12 34–26 victory over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, he had 27 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown in the 34–26 victory. During Week 17 against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, Mitchell broke the 49ers' single-season rookie rushing record, rushing for 878 yards in 10 games and surpassing

Vic Washington Victor Arnold Washington (March 23, 1946 – December 31, 2008) was an American football running back and kick returner. After attending the University of Wyoming, he played nine professional seasons, three in the Canadian Football League (CFL) a ...

's record 811 yards in 14 games from the 1971 season. Against the Texans, he had 21 carries for 119 yards to go along with two receptions for 11 yards and a touchdown in the 23–7 victory. Mitchell finished his rookie year with 207 carries for 963 yards and five touchdowns to go along with 19 receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown in 11 games and 10 starts. In the Wild Card Round against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, he had 27 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown in the 23–17 road victory. During the Divisional Round against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, Mitchell had 17 carries for 53 yards in the 13–10 road victory. In the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

, he recorded three receptions for 50 yards as the 49ers narrowly lost on the road by a score of 20–17.

2022 season

On September 13, 2022, Mitchell was placed on injured reserve after suffering a sprained MCL in Week 1. He was activated on November 12. Mitchell suffered an MCL tear in Week 12 and was placed on injured reserve on December 3. He was activated on January 7, 2023. In the 2022 season, Mitchell appeared in five games and had 45 carries for 279 yards and two touchdowns, which both came in the regular-season finale against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He finished the 38–13 victory with five carries for 55 yards and the two aforementioned touchdowns. During the Wild Card Round against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, Mitchell recorded two receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown in the 41–23 victory. In the Divisional Round against the

, he had 14 carries for 51 yards as the 49ers won by a score of 19–12.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bioLouisiana Ragin' Cajuns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Elijah Living people American football running backs San Francisco 49ers players Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football players People from Erath, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana 1998 births