What’s going on with the 49ers? Last season’s Super Bowl run feels like a distant memory, and it’s not hard to see why. (Maybe, just maybe, the Chiefs have broken their spirits). The injury list has become their harshest opponent. Just when you thought they’d caught a break, making peace with the laundry list of the IR report, enter NFL insider Adam Schefter’s bombshell on Isaac Gurendo. Gasps…

The worst is that Guerendo was one of the last standing back. Now, even he is most likely sidelined with a hamstring injury. Sigh! This just does not sound fair after losing Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason, and Elijah Mitchell to season-ending blows.

Schefter summed it up—Guerendo is “unlikely to play.” Tough timing, right? With the Dolphins up next in a must-win week 16 game, the team’s backfield is looking thinner than a training camp roster in June.

Schefter summed it up—Guerendo is “unlikely to play.” Tough timing, right? With the Dolphins up next in a must-win week 16 game, the team’s backfield is looking thinner than a training camp roster in June.

But it’s a harsh one to swallow for Guerendo because it was finally his chance. And that chance is hard to come by when you have the likes of CMC and Mason saying, “We’ve got it covered…” As a rookie, it was a patience game for him. And it paid off… Sadly, it’s not cut short.

The Niners need to look after Isaac Guerendo

If this was the taste of what he can cook, then boy, you have a gem on your hands, the Faithful! Isaac Guerendo is the man CMC can trust leaving the baton with him (when he does….). When Kyle Shanahan called him? He was ready to repay his coach’s trust. Just picture it: 15 carries, 78 yards, and two touchdowns against the Bears. Then a solid 16 carries for 57 yards against the Rams. The kid was showing up, proving he belonged. But just as his momentum was building, the football gods hit pause. You can almost hear the frustration in the silence of the huddle, can’t you? It’s a brutal.

But, the thing is Isaac Guerendo’s injuries are no secret. They’ve shadowed him since his college days at Wisconsin, sidelining him for 23 games over six years. Torn ankle ligaments, hamstring sprains, foot issues—you name it, he’s fought through it. Yet, the 49ers saw something in his 4.33 40-yard dash and top-tier athleticism score that they got him in the ranks. So, maybe we can trust the process? I mean, it’s not just trusting that… it’s also about the eye test. When he’s healthy, the flashes are undeniable. So, it’s on the Niners how they navigate through his injury-reckoned past. As they say, “Protect him.” 

This season alone, he’s averaging 5.2 yards per carry, with 381 rushing yards and four touchdowns. But now? His hamstring has other plans, leaving the team scrambling for a solution. Enter Patrick Taylor Jr., the likely starter if Guerendo sits. The undrafted free agent has shown that he can keep it going. But with just 50 yards and a single touchdown in five games, the stakes are high…the bar is even lower!

The 49ers need to thread the needle against the Dolphins this Sunday, keeping playoff hopes alive with a patchwork backfield. Will Guerendo’s absence cost them? Time—and Hard Rock Stadium—will tell.