49ers’ second-year player starts training camp with chance to vindicate draft gamble

The 49ers can’t afford to keep relying so heavily on Christian McCaffrey, making a step forward for Isaac Guerendo key for their ground game.

So much has already been said and written about the pressure on the 49ers’ 2025 draft class. San Francisco’s rookie crop comes into the season under significant pressure as a collective with several members likely to start or play significant roles.

Though there is undoubted scrutiny on Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins and Co, the 2025 season is also a massive year for a 2024 draft class that showed significant promise last year.

Ricky Pearsall will be expected to jusfity his first-round status as a starting receiver, while Renardo Green, Dominick Puni and Malik Mustapha, when he recovers from a knee injury, will all be looking to take another step forward and avoid a sophomore slump that could jeopardize their positions as starters.

That quartet and their progress commands most of the attention when it comes to the 2024 class, but fourth-rounder Isaac Guerendo also heads into year two with pressure on his shoulders as he looks to vindicate the draft day trade the 49ers made to secure his services.

San Francisco’s move up the board for Guerendo, a classic of the genre for a head coach in Kyle Shanahan who has little self-control when it comes to making ambitious moves for running backs, likely drew plenty of eyerolls from 49ers fans.

But, as Christian McCaffrey endured an injury-ravaged year, there was plenty of evidence from Guerendo in the opportunities he did receive prior to suffering a knee injury in Week 18 to suggest the 49ers made the right call in trading two fifth-round picks to get him in the fourth.

Now, with Jordan Mason out of the equation following his trade to the Minnesota Vikings, Guerendo’s success in continuing his ascension as McCaffrey’s primary backup is of underrated importance to the 49ers.

Guerendo, who crushed the 2024 Combine, recording the fastest 40 time and posting the second-highest Relative Athletic Score in the entire draft at the running back position, showed his big-play upside as a rookie as he scored four touchdowns, with his highlight play a 76-yard field-flipping run that iced a Week 6 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Illustrating the explosiveness he brought to the 49er run game when given opportunities, Guerendo – per Sumer Sports – ranked eighth among run running backs with at least 50 carries in Expected Points Added per rush.

In addition to that big-play ability, Guerendo showed progress in creating yardage for himself consistently even after defenders made contact. Indeed, he averaged 3.04 yards after contact per attempt, ranked tied 28th among the 70 backs with at least 50 rushes, per Pro Football Focus.

There were also positive signs in his rookie season to suggest Guerendo can develop into a player on whom the 49ers can rely to have a positive impact on the passing game, the former Wisconsin and Louisville back having caught 15 of his 16 targets as a rookie and averaged 10.1 yards per reception.

Where he could serve to improve is in protection. Guerendo had just 13 pass blocking snaps as a rookie, but still managed to allow a sack as part of two pressures given up.

But Shanahan has clearly seen signs that Guerendo is ready to take a step forward in 2024.

“The injury he got, he came off it in Week 18 at Arizona, the way he rehabbed that, the way he attacked that, he was here all offseason, I thought he had a great OTAs,” Shanahan said of Guerendo this week. “It’s only been one day, but he’s put himself in a position to be better this year.”

With Mason removed from the picture and his primary competition for the second running back spot being a rookie in Jordan James who lacks the same level of explosiveness, Guerendo has a clear opportunity to prove Shanahan right, both in his assessment of his development and in the decision to trade up for him in the first place.

Given McCaffrey’s recent issues with durability, Guerendo succeeding in that regard figures to be key to the 49ers’ success on the ground in 2025.

The 49ers can’t afford to rely solely on McCaffrey to provide a combination of down-to-down efficiency and explosive home-run hitting ability. Though there is reason for doubt about his protection skills, Guerendo is the closest thing the 49ers have to another McCaffrey in terms of all-round talent. They will be in a much better spot in the run game in the immediate and long-term future if he can take another step towards realizing his potential this season.