Rookie fourth-round pick Isaac Guerendo seemed to be an afterthought in the San Francisco 49ers backfield with Christian McCaffrey back in the fold.
Now McCaffrey is on IR and likely out for the season because of a PCL injury in his knee against the Buffalo Bills. Meanwhile, RB Jordan Mason may also be headed for IR because of a high ankle sprain he sustained in that same contest.
That quickly Guerendo went from afterthought to lead running back where he’ll have an opportunity rarely afforded to RBs during Kyle Shanahan’s tenure as the 49ers head coach.
One of the concerns when the 49ers traded up to select Guerendo in the fourth-round of this year’s draft was that he’d go the way of Joe Williams, Trey Sermon or Tyrion Davis-Price — all three RBs drafted between Rounds 3 and 4 who never got a real shot with the 49ers.
Williams had a host of problems that led to his early exit without playing in a regular season game, but neither Sermon nor Davis-Price ever got the opportunity Guerendo is about to have. That pair combined to play in only 16 games for San Francisco. They amassed 251rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 87 attempts.
Sermon was let go before getting a second year with the 49ers. Davis-Price played only one game in his second season with San Francisco.
Guerendo will have a chance to make mistakes and grow in games. Neither Sermon nor Davis-Price had a chance to do those things because their opportunities always came while the urgency was high and while the team had viable options behind them.
For Guerendo, he’ll be running for a team that doesn’t have a great chance to make the playoffs, and he’ll be doing so atop a depth chart that will feature Patrick Taylor and Israel Abanikanda. They have a combined 94 carries for 356 yards and one touchdown in 48 regular season games.
Guerendo alone this season has 246 yards and two touchdowns on 42 carries in 12 games. He’s also flashed some big-time playmaking ability with a handful of explosive runs. In his two highest-volume games he posted 99 yards on 10 carries against Seattle in Week 6, and 85 yards with a touchdown on 14 carries vs. Dallas two weeks later.
While McCaffrey is expected to return next season as the 49ers’ lead back, this will be a chance for Guerendo to play through some ups and downs to carve out a real role in next year’s backfield. It’s unclear what Mason’s future is as he gets set to enter restricted free agency in the offseason. If Guerendo shines in this rare opportunity for a young RB, he could find himself as the team’s No. 2 RB behind McCaffrey entering next season.
It may also solidify the 49ers depth enough that they won’t feel the need to draft an RB in the middle rounds again any time soon.
