RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 03: Trey Sermon #28 of the San Francisco 49ers dives over Quandre Diggs #6 of the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium on October 03, 2021 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Getty
A former San Francisco 49ers draft gamble has hit another roadblock five years after the team traded up to get him.
The Atlanta Falcons placed running back Trey Sermon on injured reserve on August 19, only nine days after signing the former 49ers third-round pick. Atlanta announced the transaction Wednesday but did not disclose the nature or severity of Sermonâs injury.
For Sermon, 27, it abruptly interrupts what had been another opportunity to extend a career that has taken him through five NFL organizations. For San Francisco, it brings back the name attached to one of the more aggressive running back selections of the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch era.
49ers Paid a Steep Price to Draft Trey Sermon
The 49ers didn’t simply use the No. 88 overall selection on Sermon in the 2021 NFL draft.
They went and got it.
San Francisco sent the Nos. 117 and 121 overall selections â both fourth-round picks â to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for No. 88, then used that third-rounder on Sermon out of Ohio State.
The move looked intriguing at the time. Sermon had just finished a memorable college run that included a 331-yard performance in the 2020 Big Ten Championship Game, and his physical, one-cut style appeared tailor-made for Shanahan’s rushing attack.
It never quite clicked.
Sermon appeared in nine games as a rookie, starting twice. He carried 41 times for 167 yards and one touchdown while adding three receptions for 26 yards.
An ankle injury eventually sent him to injured reserve late in that season.
By the following August, his time with the 49ers was already over. San Francisco waived Sermon before the 2022 season, and the Philadelphia Eagles claimed him.
That made his stay especially notable considering what the 49ers had surrendered to draft him.
Sermon’s Falcons Opportunity Lasted Just 9 Days
Sermon bounced from Philadelphia to the Indianapolis Colts and then the Pittsburgh Steelers before Atlanta brought him home geographically.
The Marietta, Georgia, native signed with the Falcons on August 10 and entered a reserve-running-back competition behind Atlanta’s established options.
Nine days later, he was on injured reserve.
Sermon has accumulated 505 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 134 NFL carries, according to the Falcons. His most extensive role after leaving San Francisco came with Indianapolis, where he appeared in 31 games over the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Atlanta has not publicly identified the injury behind Wednesday’s move.
The timing is significant. NFL teams must reduce their rosters to 53 players by August 30, making the remaining preseason practices and games especially valuable for players fighting for backup jobs.
49ers Are Taking Another 3rd-Round Swing at Running Back
There is an interesting present-day wrinkle for San Francisco.
Five drafts after selecting Sermon, the 49ers returned to the third round for another running back, using the No. 90 overall pick in the 2026 draft on Indiana’s Kaelon Black.
Black entered training camp competing for work behind Christian McCaffrey, giving the 49ers another chance to turn a relatively premium running back pick into a meaningful piece of Shanahan’s offense.
Sermon isn’t evidence that Black will follow the same path. Draft picks succeed or fail for countless different reasons, and Sermon has managed to keep his NFL career alive well beyond his brief stay in San Francisco.
But his latest stop is another reminder of how quickly the league can move.
In April 2021, the 49ers were willing to trade two picks to make sure somebody else didn’t draft Trey Sermon first.
Five years later, he’s fighting through another setback after his newest opportunity lasted barely more than a week.
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