San Francisco 49ers select Isaac Guerendo in fourth round of 2024 NFL Draft

Louisville running back Isaac Guerendo has found an NFL home after he was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 29th pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Guerendo enters the professional ranks following a strong college career and terrific season at Louisville, where he really shined in the back half of the season. However, his college journey actually began at Wisconsin. And why not? The Badgers have NFL running backs coming off a conveyor belt in up in Madison.

Technically, Guerendo is now the latest Badger RB to make it to the NFL, although he provided fairly modest production for them before his transfer. He saw one rushing attempt for 11 yards as a freshman, 11 for 36 the next season, then 23 for 160 as a junior. In his final year at Wisconsin, Guerendo ran for 385 yards and six yards per carry on 132 of them.

At Louisville this past season, he joined to form a fearsome backfield duo alongside Jawhar Jordan, the latter of which suffered some injury troubles as the season drew on, requiring Guerendo to step up.

Boy, did he. The former Badger closed the season on a heater, recording 558 rushing yards, 101 receiving yards and scoring eight touchdowns in the final six games alone. That’s why he is now an NFL draft choice.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Isaac Guerendo

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com went through many of the draft-eligible prospects and sketched out a small profile of each guy, highlighting strengths and weaknesses while addressing how the player translates to the next level.

Here was his scouting report on the Louisville running back:

“The transfer out of Wisconsin is an ascending running back prospect who was finally able to get enough carries to show what he’s capable of. Guerendo is built like a prototypical Badger runner, with a thick, well-proportioned frame. He was a much more decisive runner in 2023, but his cut-and-go burst is fairly average. He’s not sudden but runs with appropriate elusiveness, using subtle side-steps to continue the run’s downhill momentum.

“He can catch it out of the backfield and protect his quarterback, making him a suitable three-down backup. Guerendo’s size, skill set and demeanor are built for an NFL workload, and he could sneak into a bigger role in the future if he continues to progress.”

After superb athletic testing and a fiery end to the 2023 season, Guerendo really raised his stock for this spring.