49ers roster: 4 players who increased stock value during 2021 OTAs

With the 49ers having wrapped up organized team activities, these four players on the bubble certainly improved their roster stock value.

The San Francisco 49ers have officially wrapped up organized team activities for 2021. And while these padless, low-intensity practices don’t reveal much about how the eventual 53-man roster will come together this season, they can give some early indication towards which players might be taking early strides towards surviving roster cuts ahead of Week 1.

It’s not all happy news and glowing reports, unfortunately. The Niners lost two key backups late during OTAs, offensive lineman Justin Skule (ACL) and defensive back Tarvarius Moore (Achilles), and those losses will test San Francisco’s depth heading into training camp.

Yet these injuries open up more opportunities for players who otherwise would have had a dimmer shot at making the regular-season roster.

And if those players ended up impressing during OTAs already, their stock values certainly saw an increase, too.

Here are four bubble-watch players whose stock rose during OTAs.

No. 4: 49ers Running Back Trey Sermon

Being a third-round NFL Draft pick, rookie running back Trey Sermon is probably a lock to make the 53-man roster, but it was an open-ended question to see what his role would be in year one.

But the 49ers lost fellow running back Jeff Wilson to a torn meniscus, and he’ll be sidelined four to six months, while veteran runner Raheem Mostert mostly sat out team practices with a minor injury and to stay fresh for the upcoming year.

As a result, Sermon got in plenty of work with the first-team unit, and he’s already turning heads among some of the Niners’ veteran leadership.

Including tight end George Kittle, who told reporters the following about Sermon:

"He’s such an aggressive runner. He’s a big body. He just likes to run through people, but he still has a finesse to his game, which is awesome to see. He’s a fast guy that runs downhill, and I love that in this offense."

Sermon has an inside track towards becoming the No. 2 rusher on the depth chart, supporting Mostert and potentially being a workhorse back for head coach Kyle Shanahan.

And while the lack of tackling makes it hard to see what Sermon truly has to offer, the initial reports of his efforts during OTAs have been nothing but glowing so far.