49ers roster: 4 players who are trending down after loss to Cardinals

The 49ers delivered a flop of a performance in Week 9 against the Cardinals, and these four Niners are certainly seeing their value to the team drop.

The San Francisco 49ers now find themselves 3-5 after dropping their fifth game out of six contests, a one-sided 31-17 clunker of a defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals, who were forced to start Colt McCoy at quarterback in the wake of missing Kyler Murray to an ankle injury.

Ouch.

Arizona gaining 437 yards of offense suggests the Niners defense is largely to blame, especially considering San Francisco went minus-three in the turnover department. But there were plenty of 49ers on the offensive side of the ball, too, who failed to deliver enough in the defeat.

But there are a number of players who stand to be called out above the rest, and their stock values are dropping significantly after what happened in Week 9.

Let’s take a look at four such Niners.

No. 4: 49ers Running Back Trey Sermon

Rookie running back Trey Sermon wasn’t active against Arizona, mainly because San Francisco wanted to dress its veteran, Jeff Wilson Jr., who came back from an offseason meniscus tear and has had prior success against the Cardinals.

But Wilson didn’t see a touch either. Instead, rookie Elijah Mitchell got the bulk of carries for the 49ers’ ground game, and only eight at that combined with five catches.

Mitchell has been a revelation. Yet Sermon, the third-round NFL Draft pick, is now clearly fourth on the depth chart behind Mitchell, Wilson and depth running back JaMycal Hasty, who had one carry for 2 yards and three catches for 11.

Hasty is a quality depth piece but shouldn’t be seeing touches over Sermon, whom the Niners are wholly failing to develop.

Maybe this changes soon. For now, though, Sermon’s stock value for the team is at an all-time low.