The San Francisco 49ers have cycled through quite a few running backs during the Kyle Shanahan era. One of these rushers is a name some may have forgotten: Trey Sermon. The former Niner is still looking for a home in free agency.
San Francisco drafted Sermon out of Ohio State with a third round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The selection turned out to be a pretty big mistake considering the Niners released him after just one season on the team.
The Georgia native had an impressive final season of college for the Buckeyes, rushing for 870 yards in just eight games. When San Francisco selected him, the hope was he could develop into a solid backup to Raheem Mostert.
However, the alarm bells went off when Elijah Mitchell, who was selected by the 49ers in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, beat Sermon out for the backup spot to Mostert. It was clear that the Niners may have reached a bit taking Sermon so early in the draft.
Sermon saw some action in his rookie year and even had to start two games when Mitchell went down with an injury. In nine games, Sermon rushed for 167 yards on 41 attempts with one touchdown. Then, Sermon went down with an injury in Week 12 and did not run the ball for San Francisco in a regular-season game ever again.
He was still with San Francisco during the preseason in 2022, but it was clear going into the year that he was in head coach Kyle Shanahan's proverbial doghouse. He did not get a ton of touches in preseason action, which is why it was not a huge shock when the 49ers released him.
After his brief time in San Francisco, Sermon went on to the Philadelphia Eagles where he only had two rushes. He has spent the last two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts where he has had respectable numbers, rushing the ball 91 times for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
He is still just 26 years old, so it seems likely that a team will bring him in as a depth piece in the backfield at some point.
A reunion with the Niners seems fairly unlikely even when one considers how they had to go through countless running backs in the 2024 campaign.
Sermon's time in San Francisco was not all that memorable, but we will have to see if he pops up with another team and can keep his NFL career going.
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