The San Francisco 49ers have the best running back in the NFL in Christian McCaffrey, but they added to that position group in the NFL Draft, trading up to the 129th pick and selecting Isaas Guerendo, and Kyle Shanahan went into why the 49ers moved up to select him.
“Well we love his speed,” Kyle Shanahan said, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “We think he’s got a lot of speed. All our backs can run, but it’s nice to add one who possibly can run a little bit faster just for a chance of pace and things like that. We like his running style. His running style I think is similar to Elijah [Mitchell] and the style that he runs with, he’s built that way and like the 40 he has.”
Isaac Guerendo ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Shanahan did make it clear that the 49ers targeted him for more than just his speed, however.
“We didn’t make a blanket statement like that,” Shanahan said, according to Florio. “But we wanted to add some speed to the running back room if we could. But you don’t just add that just to add it. It’s got to be the right type of runner with the speed. And there were a couple guys in the back end in the draft who had that. And this is one we really liked in that way.”
Shanahan was not the only member of the 49ers who was a fan of Guerendo, as running backs coach Robert Turner Jr. was all in from the start.
“Bobby loved him from the beginning,” Shanahan said, according to Florio. “He called him back at all the right times. He answered his texts. I’m just telling you, if you don’t do that, it’s hard to come back from that with Bobby. But, the same things I said, I mean we all really liked the speed part about him. But lots of guys can run. You have to be as good of a running back and the physicality he ran with how he was without the ball in his hand we felt he was a guy who played to our style and the skillset set could help us.”
The 49ers will hope that the haul they got from this year’s draft helps them get over the hump and win their sixth Super Bowl in franchise history.
49ers continue to add weapons in the draft
The 49ers have been rumored to potentially move on from Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk in a trade this offseason due to salary cap concerns, but the NFL Draft has come and gone and both are still on the roster. It seems like both will be in San Francisco in 2024, but it remains to be seen if they will be past this season.
Given that, the 49ers did add some offensive playmakers in this draft. In the first round, San Francisco added Ricky Pearsall from Florida, an intriguing receiver who could potentially fill in if Samuel or Aiyuk eventually do leave the team.
Guerendo was next up in the fourth round, and there was another pick in that round, which the 49ers used to add Jacob Cowing, a wide receiver from Arizona.
With the draft done, the 49ers have their eyes set on getting ready for the season, where they should be a contender in the NFC once again.
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