The San Francisco 49ers have a habit of surprising everyone with their draft picks, and this year was no different. When they selected running back Kaelon Black earlier than most expected, it raised some eyebrows. But according to head coach Kyle Shanahan, the team had a clear vision for the versatile back.

Black's path to the NFL was anything but conventional. He didn't start at Indiana, wasn't among the 319 players invited to the NFL Combine, and only saw limited targets with the Hoosiers this past season. As a sixth-year senior, his route-running skills were showcased at the Senior Bowl—just a week after playing in the national championship. So it's no surprise that many draft analysts labeled him a reach. After all, how many scouts spent time evaluating a player who didn't start or make the combine?

Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Shanahan explained the team's thinking behind the third-round selection. "We had him as the second-rated back on the board," Shanahan said. "That's just our evaluation of him. Right or wrong, that's our evaluation, and then you've got to decide where you think he's going to go."

In a draft class that featured Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price going in the first round, Black was the third running back taken overall. The position saw only two more selections in the fourth round, three in the fifth, two in the sixth, and four in the seventh. With a relatively thin running back class, the 49ers weren't willing to gamble on Black falling to the fourth round—a spot many insiders considered a sweet spot for the position.

Shanahan elaborated on the team's internal debate: "You got a guy who's not invited to the Combine, so what does that mean? Maybe it means he's going in the sixth round. But then you evaluate him, and you think, 'Man, I think this is a third-round running back.' When you look at the whole draft and evaluate all the backs together, this wasn't as deep of a draft as years past for running backs. By April, the majority of our place was ranking him up there."

For 49ers fans, the pick might have seemed like a reach in the moment. But if Shanahan's track record is any indication, Black could prove to be a steal—and the perfect addition to a backfield that always seems to find diamonds in the rough.