49ers roster: 5 players who will be given second chances in 2022

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Trey Sermon #28 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

49ers player No. 2: Running back Trey Sermon

Of all the Niners picks from the 2021 NFL Draft, few underwhelmed as much as third-round rookie running back Trey Sermon, who was given every chance to make a sizable impact, especially after the team lost No. 1 running back Raheem Mostert to a season-ending knee injury in Week 1.

But it was fellow rookie Elijah Mitchell, not Sermon, who ended up being San Francisco’s primary tailback over the course of the year, and that likely won’t change heading into 2022.

It’s not all bad news for Sermon, though, even after he rushed for only 167 yards on 41 carries for a single touchdown over nine games played.

For starters, Mostert is also hitting the free-agent market this offseason, and it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see the 49ers turn the page and open things up for their younger crop of running backs, namely Mitchell and Sermon.

On top of that, after struggling to adjust to head coach Kyle Shanahan’s outside-zone system, Sermon should now be hitting 2022 with a much greater sense of urgency, having a need to prove his value to the team that invested a third-round draft pick in him.

The Niners would be unwise to wholly give up on Sermon just yet. And at best, he might wind up being the No. 2 player on the depth chart behind Mitchell.