The 49ers have suffered all kinds of attrition at running back this season, and Isaac Guerendo is only the latest case.
If there’s been one theme associated with the San Francisco 49ers’ 2024 season, it’s been the injury bug.
And no position on the roster has been hit harder than the crop of running backs.
The Niners have already been without fourth-year rusher Elijah Mitchell (hamstring) all year, and they also lost the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey, for the first half of 2024 because of Achilles tendinitis and then a PCL injury suffered only three games into his campaign.
Then, running back Jordan Mason went down with a high-ankle sprain the same week McCaffrey suffered his second setback, which gave way to rookie Isaac Guerendo shouldering the load down the stretch.
Now, with San Francisco poised to take on the 6-8 Miami Dolphins in Week 16, Guerendo’s own health status was put in doubt.
Guerendo suffered a hamstring injury during the 49ers’ Week 15 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams, further depleting head coach Kyle Shanahan’s running back room even further.
Turns out, it’s not just a short-term injury.
Isaac Guerendo to miss 49ers’ Week 16 game vs. Dolphins
The fourth-round draftee out of Louisville wasn’t able to practice in the week leading up to Sunday’s contest out in South Florida.
On Friday, Shanahan briefed reporters and told them Guerendo would be ruled out for Week 16, meaning the Niners would turn to their fourth starting running back of the year.
This likely means depth runner Patrick Taylor Jr. gets the start after coming over as a free agent from the Green Bay Packers last offseason.
Taylor, 26 years old, has never started a game in his pro career and has primarily served as a special teams ace up to this point, accumulating just 311 yards on 79 carries sincce his NFL debut back in 2021.
San Francisco likely deploys Israel Abanikanda as Taylor’s primary backup for Week 16 when it kicks off against Miami at 4:25 p.m. ET from Hard Rock Stadium.
