For as much as the San Francisco 49ers' selection of Ricky Pearsall with the 31st overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft caught many by surprise, their most eyebrow-raising move came on day three.

Despite seeing similar previous trades to go up for Joe Williams and Trey Sermon fail to pay off in previous years, San Francisco dealt two fifth-round picks to vault up the board in the fourth round and select a running back in Isaac Guerendo.

The 49ers' track record with such moves quickly attracted skepticism around the decision to go up for Guerendo, who crushed his workout at the NFL Combine.

Guerendo posted an A to Z Sports athletic composite score of 97.9 percent, the best among the running backs on show in Indianapolis. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds and posted a remarkable vertical leap of 41.5 inches to go with a broad jump of 10ft 9in.

No running back gets drafted by the 49ers without getting the seal of approval from longtime position coach Bobby Turner, who makes a habit of calling prospects continually throughout the process.

While Turner conceded the 4.3 speed was a huge part of what attracted him and the 49ers to Guerendo, he explained it was the more subtle traits demonstrated by the former Louisville back that convinced San Francisco to make the move.

"During my interview process leading up to this," Turner said. "The very first thing I saw on tape was the ability to break the long runs and take it to the house, hit the home run. I saw that on tape.

"I didn’t know at the time it was the fastest but knew he could run and I knew he had size. And then when I was talking to him, he is very detailed. He understood what I was asking and had the ability to explain it.

Isaac Guerendo vs VT was quite the game for him. Displayed good balance, body control, sticking his foot into the ground to cut upfield, and that breakaway speed pic.twitter.com/7myiHatiWD

— Billy M (@BillyM_91) April 12, 2024

"I also want a player to know what the person next to him is doing. In other words, ‘What are the offensive line assignments? Who are the pullers? What’s their most important block on that play?’

"[Also] to be able to run with their eyes, have great vision. And then when there’s daylight there, to be able to hit the hole and make the big play. That whole ordeal, I was impressed with.

“He’s going to have to be able to do it all. But when you’re coachable, and I feel and know that I can coach him to get him to do the extra things even better, then he can be a better runner because we are looking for certain things.

"You just can’t throw anyone into the backfield in that system that we run. I’ve never believed that. We’ve put a lot of time and work in to get that system to work. With all that time and effort, if you have the right running back in there, then it does make it look easy.”

.@LouisvilleFB RB Isaac Guerendo is probably most consistently talked about as being an elite athlete. But he’s more than just that.

He’s had limited carries relative to his peers in his college career (which many NFL scouts bring up as a POSITIVE, as he has less “tread on his… pic.twitter.com/7pfUtowTfe

— Eric Galko (@EricGalko) April 24, 2024

Guerendo has previously stated his belief that a lack of tread on his tires can help him make this running back draft move the exception to the rule for the 49ers. Yet with Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey the undisputed lead back, opportunities for him to vindicate San Francisco's decision may be few in his rookie year.

Still, Turner's comments suggest he feels Guerendo can ensure the future of the 49er running game will be in very safe hands.

San Francisco 49ers’ negotiations with Brandon Aiyuk could be complicated by latest wide receiver deal

More leverage for the All-Pro.