Jalen Hurd's story of coming to Baylor was because of a whim. When the former Tennessee running back decided to leave Knoxville and wanted to play wide receiver elsewhere, he was headed West.

But then he called Baylor to measure interest in the spring of 2017. He stopped by the Baylor University campus and never left.

And two years later, his dreams of playing in the NFL are reality. On Friday evening, the San Francisco 49ers used their 3rd round pick (No. 68 overall) on the slash wide receiver. Hurd becomes the highest draft for Baylor since defensive back Xavien Howard went in the 2nd round to Miami in 2016.

Hurd finished the 2018 season with 946 receiving yards and 218 rushing yards. He played a huge role as the alpha wide receiver that helped Baylor finish the 2018 regular season with a bowl clinching win over Texas Tech. Early in that game, he played through a knee injury that later required surgery.

He wound up missing Baylor's Texas Bowl victory over Vanderbilt and the Senior Bowl. Hurd was also limited in what he could do in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. However, he was able to go through drills at Baylor's Pro Day on April 3. While he wasn't 100 percent, he was at least able to show scouts from 28 organizations he was on the road to recovery.

What Hurd offers is somewhat different in the NFL game. He played as a big slot receiver and then was used more and more in the running game in short yardage situations. While NFL receivers will be used on running plays with jet sweeps or reverses, it's not common for them to line up in the backfield like Hurd did.

Time will tell if what Hurd brings will be revolutionary or delayed by the 49ers. Baylor head coach Matt Rhule picked his spots on when to use Hurd in the running game. But it did help as the Bears were trying to find some consistency with that part of the offense.

Of course, what the 49ers are looking for is to make sure Hurd to be as healthy as possible by the time they run mini camps during the spring followed by training camp that should start in late July.

Hurd should be in San Francisco by Saturday at the earliest to meet with San Francisco management and the media.