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49ers Rookie RB Isaac Guerendo Impresses Kyle Shanahan

In the 49ers' preseason finale, Guerendo returned a kickoff for 93 yards. He also ran the ball 11 times for 32 yards.

Grant Cohn

Aug 23, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo (49) carries the ball on a kickoff return against the Las Vegas Raiders in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 23, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo (49) carries the ball on a kickoff return against the Las Vegas Raiders in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Isaac Guerendo earned his spot on the 49ers' 53-man roster this past Friday.

Remember, Guerendo hadn't done much all offseason. He pulled his hamstring on the first day of training camp and missed the first two preseason games. So he needed to do something to make the team even though the 49ers traded up to take him in Round 4 of this year's draft.

And in the 49ers' preseason finale, Guerendo returned a kickoff for 93 yards. He also ran the ball 11 times for 32 yards.

"I thought he did a real good job," said head coach Kyle Shanahan, "especially since it was the first day he had shoulder pads on since the Senior Bowl. He got hurt our first day of practice and then the two practices we had before the Raiders week were unpadded practices. So for him to go that long without putting pads on, I really liked how he ran. He tried to break tackles, never eased up on contact, tried to run through it, hit the holes well and had a real good first game."

Guerendo's longest run was 6 yards. He didn't necessarily show enough to earn carries in a loaded backfield, but he probably earned the job as the starting kick returner. His blend of size and speed makes him a good fit for the new kickoff rules. So he should be active on game days. And if Christian McCaffrey ever were to miss time due to injury, then Guerendo might get some opportunities to run the ball.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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