Fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo seemed to be an afterthought in the San Francisco 49ers' backfield with Christian McCaffrey back on the roster.
Now McCaffrey is on IR and likely out for the season with a PCL injury in his knee against the Buffalo Bills. Meanwhile, RB Jordan Mason could also be heading to IR due to a severe ankle sprain he suffered in the same contest.
That's how quickly Guerendo went from afterthought to lead running back, where he will be given an opportunity rarely afforded to RBs during Kyle Shanahan's tenure as 49ers head coach.
One of the concerns when the 49ers selected Guerendo in the fourth round of this year's draft was that he would go the way of Joe Williams, Trey Sermon or Tyrion Davis-Price – all three RBs drafted between Rounds 3 and 4 never had a real chance with the 49ers.
Williams had a series 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 that Guerendo would soon get. This pair only played 16 games together for San Francisco. They scored 251 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 87 attempts.
Sermon was released before getting a second year with the 49ers. Davis-Price only played one game in his second season with San Francisco.
Guerendo will have the chance to make mistakes and grow in games. Neither Sermon nor Davis-Price had the chance to do these things because their chances always came when the urgency was high and the team had viable options behind them.
For Guerendo, he'll be starting for a team that doesn't have much of a chance of making the playoffs, and he'll do so at the top of a depth chart that will feature Patrick Taylor and Israel Abanikanda. They totaled 94 carries for 356 yards and one touchdown in 48 regular season games.
Guerendo alone has 246 yards and two touchdowns on 42 carries in 12 games this season. He also demonstrated his great playing talent with some explosive runs. In his two highest-earning games, he gained 99 yards on 10 carries in Week 6 against Seattle and 85 yards with a touchdown on 14 carries two weeks later against Dallas.
While McCaffrey is expected to return as the 49ers' lead back next season, this will be a chance for Guerendo to weather some ups and downs to carve out a real role in the backfield next year. It's unclear what Mason's future holds as he's set to enter restricted free agency this offseason. If Guerendo shines in this rare opportunity for a young RB, he could find himself as the team's No. 2 guy behind McCaffrey next season.
It could also solidify the 49ers' depth enough that they won't feel the need to draft a RB in the middle rounds any time soon.
