As the San Francisco 49ers continue to push through training camp, all eyes are on their quarterback competition between Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, and Sam Darnold. However, their running back room is also drawing some attention now that Elijah Mitchell is out with an adductor injury, and it looks like a familiar face has returned to the fold in Jeremy McNichols.

Christian McCaffrey is obviously leading the way in San Fran's backfield, but with Mitchell out, the Niners are thin on depth if something were to happen to McCaffrey too. McNichols, who spent time with San Fran back in 2017, was most recently with the Tennessee Titans for the 2020 and 2021 seasons as Derrick Henry's backup and has now landed a one-year deal to return to San Francisco with Mitchell on the sideline for the time being.

“The San Francisco 49ers announced they have signed RB Jeremy McNichols to a one-year deal. In order to make room on the roster, the team waived RB Ronald Awatt.” – 49ers.com

After missing the entire 2022 campaign, McNichols will be looking to stick around on the Niners with Mitchell's timetable for a return being fairly murky. McNichols' 2021 campaign was the best of his career (41 CAR, 156 YDS, 28 REC, 240 YDS, 1 TD), and he could be a nice change of pace back behind McCaffrey while Mitchell is out.

McNichols may have a bit of a difficult time cracking San Francisco's initial 53-man roster, but his familiarity with the 49ers system could help him stick around. Mitchell's injury status is certainly worth keeping an eye on, but if he's out for an extended period of time, it will be interesting to see if McNichols can make the most of his opportunity with the 49ers here.