Isaac Guerendo

An upright rusher, Guerendo is a linear runner with an average burst and home run speed. If he gets into the open field, he can take it to the house. His pad level can get him into trouble at the point of contact. He's not a pile pushing back despite his size because of his pad level. He can get lit up at the point of contact and carries near the goal line. If he can tweak his running style, he could unlock more power to finish his runs. With his upright running style, he isn't the most fluid mover laterally. He will deploy the occasional jump cut, but his lateral skills are more limited. He should be deployed in a gap-heavy scheme, and just ask him to hit the hole and get downhill. With limited playing time until 2023, towards the end of the 2023 season, Guerendo started playing with more confidence. Instead of blindly following his blocks into clogged running lanes, he began to free-lance some and utilize his speed to his advantage. He started bouncing the occasional run outside and utilizing his 4.3 wheels. Guerendo was a reliable check-down option in college, securing 87.5% of his targets. He displays soft hands and adjusts to throws outside his frame easily. He will likely never be a top-shelf route runner because of his tight hips, but there's more pass-game upside here than we have seen so far. His size/speed combination plays better as a receiver in space. Once he gets going, he can be tough to corral. Dynasty Outlook: The 49ers selected the 6'0", 220lb back with 4.3 speed in the fourth round of this year's draft. It's a yearly tradition for the 49ers to take a back on Day 3 of the NFL Draft. This one makes a ton of sense for their zone run scheme while also factoring in that Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason are both free agents after this season. Guerendo could be the primary backup to Christian McCaffrey as soon as 2025, while also mentioning that McCaffrey will be a free agent in 2026. Guerendo's per-carry efficiency and pass-game upside are quite interesting, and with a landing spot that has sneaky upside like this, he is a perfect third-round dice roll in rookie drafts.

The San Francisco 49ers have selected RB Isaac Guerendo with the 129th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Fantasy Impact

Guerendo is a physical runner that broke out his last year at Wisconsin. Unfortunately, it looks like he won't get much work behind superstar Christian McCaffrey. He may receive some work in blowout games, but otherwise assumes to be buried in the depth chart for the 2024 season.