Kyle Shanahan continues NFL Draft tradition as San Francisco 49ers trade up to get Christian McCaffrey help
If there's one thing San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan loves, it's trading up for a running back in the 2024 NFL Draft. San Francisco did it in the first draft run by John Lynch and Shanahan in 2017, moving up in the fourth round for Joe Williams, who never played a game for […]
If there's one thing San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan loves, it's trading up for a running back in the 2024 NFL Draft.
San Francisco did it in the first draft run by John Lynch and Shanahan in 2017, moving up in the fourth round for Joe Williams, who never played a game for the team. A similar move was made in 2021 when the Niners traded up in the third round for Trey Sermon, who lasted only one season. A year later, the 49ers selected another back, Tyrion Davis-Price, in the third round, though they did not move up. Davis-Price is no longer with the team.
But Shanahan and the 49ers are clearly convinced it will be a different story with Louisville running back Issac Guerendo after they continued a San Francisco draft tradition in vaulting up the board to grab him with the 129th overall pick. The Niners traded both their fifth-rounders (173 and 176) to the New York Jets to get up to that spot.
I wrote last month that Guerendo was a running back prospect Shanahan might be unable to resist, the former Cardinal having lit up 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.
That explosiveness was consistently evident on tape, with Guerendo displaying the burst to the second level to thrive in a 49er run game that has long since relied on decisive one-cut runners.
The 49er rushing attack these days is a more balanced mix of zone and gap runs. Per Arjun Menon, Wisconsin transfer Guerendo had 3.13 rush yards over expected on gap runs and 1.53 RYOE on zone runs. Overall, he ranked second among 2024 running back prospects with 1.57 RYOE.
On top of that, he averaged 4.11 yards after contact per attempt, demonstrating the ability to make defenders miss and bounce off tackle attempts due to his impressive contact balance.
In other words, all the signs are that Guerendo could not be a better fit to slot into the 49er run game as a backup who could take some of the burden off Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey had a league-leading 339 touches last season.
McCaffrey's immediate backup, Elijah Mitchell, is a free agent next offseason and has never finished a full season in his NFL career owing to injury issues.
With only one season with 100 carries to his name in his college career, Guerendo enters the league with very little tread on the tires, setting him up well to vindicate this latest running back trade by making a success of his own career while potentially extending that of McCaffrey.
49ers’ latest draft pick adds more value and another positive spin to the Trey Lance trade
Now it looks a good deal.
