When in a bind, it’s better to start pieces of good offenses and hope for the best. That has fantasy football managers considering San Francisco 49ers rookie RB Isaac Guerendo.
Could he be more involved in the Week 2 game plan?
Should I Start or Sit Isaac Guerendo in Fantasy this Week?
I completely understand the feeling Christian McCaffrey managers have. This is your best player. The No. 1 player in all of fantasy. Last year, rostering CMC was like a free pass to the fantasy playoffs. Now, you are going at least one-third of the season without your first-round pick. It’s frustrating. That can lead to desperation.
On Monday night, when McCaffrey was surprisingly ruled out, it was an all-out scramble to find anyone to fill in. If you took a shot on Guerendo, I don’t blame you. We didn’t know who the RB2 was going to be. Now, we do. Fantasy managers should absolutely not start Guerendo in any leagues of any size or format.
Fantasy Outlook for Guerendo vs. Vikings
The 49ers seem content trotting out Jordan Mason for as many snaps as he can handle. Mason only really left the field when he was tired. I expect something similar in Week 2.
The second running back on the roster was technically Guerendo. But he wasn’t the true RB2. It’s abundantly clear the 49ers’ plan was and will continue to be using Deebo Samuel as the de facto RB2.
Guerendo played exactly three offensive snaps last week. He did not record a single touch. His primary role was on special teams, where he played 38% of the snaps.
While it’s definitely a positive that the rookie is ahead of Patrick Taylor on the depth chart, that doesn’t matter if he’s not touching the ball. It’s clear the 49ers do not yet trust Guerendo. We know he is explosive because we saw it in college, but there is a lot more to playing an RB in the NFL than simply being explosive with the ball in your hands.
Sucks to see CMC sit out, but it’s the prudent thing to do. An IR stint might just be the best decision for all parties at this point.
Having said that, I have confidence in Jordan Mason, Patrick Taylor & Isaac Guerendo to hold down the RB fort! 💪🏽 #FTTB pic.twitter.com/qoMjMyVgaB https://t.co/ADSUyXddlP
— Conrado Pascual (@CP3_777) September 13, 2024
I get the excitement around rookies who have demonstrated flashy plays in college, especially ones on good offenses. They are unknowns. But most Day 3 running backs never matter. An even higher percentage of them don’t matter as rookies.
Last year, there was preseason hype surrounding guys like Evan Hull, Israel Abanikanda, Chase Brown, Zach Evans, and DeWayne McBridge. None of them were anywhere remotely close to fantasy relevance.
Sometimes, guys do break through. We saw it with Dameon Pierce and Tyler Allgeier in 2022. But those were unique situations where there was no clear starter. San Francisco has a clear starter — it’s Mason. We can and should view him the same way we viewed McCaffrey (in terms of grip on starting job, not talent).
This could be a sneaky high-scoring game against the Vikings. However, the matchup doesn’t matter when a player isn’t getting the ball.
My projection for Guerendo’s stat line against the Vikings is he doesn’t touch the ball a single time on offense unless the 49ers completely blow them out, allowing him to soak up garbage time carries. Accordingly, fantasy managers should not only leave Guerendo on benches, but on the waiver wire.
If you do add Guerendo this week, then the key thing we need to see is him getting more snaps and continuing to play on both rushing and passing downs. For Guerendo to get consistent playing time in this offense, he will need to show is both competent with the ball in hand and in a role as a blocker on passing downs. If we start to see that, then maybe there is the potential for more touches down the line.