One of the bigger moves the San Francisco 49ers made late in the offseason was adding to their running back depth, trading for Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick.
Robinson, 26, had been a starter for the Commanders since being drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, posting career-highs in 2024, as he rushed for 799 yards and eight touchdowns on 4.3 yards per carry.
Upon arriving in San Francisco, he was immediately anointed the backup
to Christian McCaffrey, which added more depth to the running back room, but also solidified the rotation.
Perhaps no back was more impacted by the trade than 2024 fourth-round pick Isaac Guerendo, whom the 49ers traded up to select in last year’s draft. After San Francisco dealt Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings and drafted running back Jordan James in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, it seemed like Guerendo was primed to be the backup.
But, he dealt with a couple of injuries this season and also reportedly had fumble issues at times in practice, so it makes sense that the 49ers prioritized going after a running back, especially with their injuries in the room.
With Robinson taking over the No. 2 role, where does Guerendo stand ahead of the 2025 season?
“I don’t think that he’s gotten lost [in the rotation],” head coach Kyle Shanahan said about Guerendo on Wednesday. “I just think he’s competing. I think he was the third back last year, then a couple guys got hurt and he got an opportunity, and I thought he did well in his opportunity. But that didn’t mean he was the first or second back all of a sudden.
“He had to come into camp and still compete with guys. He got hurt really early and missed a lot of time to compete. We brought Brian in. We’ve studied him over his career and based off of that we put him ahead of him. That’s how we are starting out and we’ll see how it goes throughout the year.”
Of course, both players will still be behind Christian McCaffrey, who has looked healthy this offseason and should be a big boost to the team’s offense, even with the questions at wide receiver.
“Just having a player like him, to be the Offensive MVP one year and then really missed a whole next year, was really tough on him, tough on us,” Shanahan said about McCaffrey. “I knew Christian was back just once he told me he was healthy. It’s not like we were thinking he wouldn’t come back from it. You know, you hope that stuff, the arthritis and everything goes away. Which it usually does. He was telling us that early in the offseason, so I felt pretty good about it. Christian’s not a liar. So, I didn’t think he was. Then we saw him early in OTAs, he looked like the guy we’ve always known, and he’s continued that.”
“Christian’s ready whenever that ball touches him, so he would prefer every play. Hopefully, it comes earlier than later, and it usually does with running backs.”
In order to keep McCaffrey fresh, though, a rotation will be important at running back. But, it seems both of the backs that San Francisco drafted over the past two years won’t be a featured part of that rotation, at least to start the season.
