It has been a tough season for San Francisco 49ers second-year running back Isaac Guerendo. After a mini-breakout campaign in 2024, he has not seen any action in 2025 and was just scratched in favor of rookie running back Jordan James.
Guerendo was made inactive for Monday night's game against the Indianapolis Colts as James was made available for the first time all season. Guerendo was not given any injury designation ahead of the game, so this appears to have been a healthy scratch with James passing him on the depth chart.
James was drafted by the Niners in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft but has not seen any action after dealing with a finger injury in training camp. The University of Oregon product was an impressive rusher in college, running for 1,267 yards in his final season with the Ducks.
It has been a steady fall from grace for Guerendo.
Last season as a rookie, he rushed for 420 yards on 84 attempts with four touchdowns. He also had 152 receiving yards showing he could be a potent pass-catcher as well.
Coming into 2025, it seemed highly likely that the Niners were going to have Guerendo be Christian McCaffrey's primary backup after they traded away Jordan Mason in the offseason.
However, injuries in the running back room were piling up in the worst way, which forced the 49ers to make a trade for Brian Robinson of the Washington Commanders.
McCaffrey and Robinson are the only running backs on the roster who have seen any offensive action this season, which is good because it means both have remained healthy enough to play. But with San Francisco's rushing attack as a whole being fairly lackluster, it always seemed like it might be a good idea to give Guerendo some touches, given the speed he flashed last season.
Behind the scenes, Guerendo must have fallen out of favor either with the coaching staff or front office even before the season began. General manager John Lynch said the Niners thought Jordan James could be McCaffrey's backup when they drafted him, so somewhere along the line, San Francisco soured on Guerendo's potential.
Guerendo has not seen a single offensive snap this season, and while he began the year on kick return duties alongside Skyy Moore, he was removed from that in favor of Robinson.
It seems Guerendo's days with the team are now numbered. The 49ers have determined James is ahead of him on the depth chart, so he may very well be the third-string running back the rest of this season.
Maybe Guerendo can get a fresh start somewhere else this offseason. He has impressive speed and proved he can be a solid back last season, so he could easily be a respectable backup with another roster even though his time with San Francisco will most likely come to an end soon.