Sermon selected with No. 88 pick by 49ers
Trey Sermon gave Ohio State its second NFL-bound running back in the past two years Friday, as the former Buckeye was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Marietta, Georgia, native was taken with the No. 88 overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers, becoming the fifth Buckeye to hear their name called so far, and the fourth offensive player from last year’s Ohio State roster.
Sermon’s four-year collegiate career began at Oklahoma, where the former Rivals250 recruit racked up nearly 2,500 yards from scrimmage and 25 total touchdowns in his first three seasons, but his highest highs were not realized until he transferred to Ohio State for his senior season in 2020.
Despite a slow start to the year, which included not reaching the 100-yard mark or scoring a touchdown until the fifth game of the season –– a 112-yard performance on just 10 carries against Michigan State –– Sermon found his rhythm and blasted off like a rocket ship down the stretch for the Buckeyes.
After the Michigan State game, Sermon shattered Ohio State records with a 331-yard showcase in the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern, topping Eddie George’s all-time single-game high mark for the program.
Sermon followed that up with 193 yards on the ground and 61 receiving against Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal on Jan. 1, simultaneously taking the sport by storm and launching up NFL draft boards along the way.
Sermon’s storybook run came to a screeching halt in the national championship game however, as he suffered an injury on the very first play against Alabama that caused him to miss the rest of the blowout Buckeye loss in what became the last contest of his collegiate career.
At Ohio State Pro Day on March 30, Sermon measured in at nearly a half-inch taller than 6-foot, and weighed in at 215 pounds. Sermon’s best 40-yard dash time clocked in at 4.57, and his 37-inch vertical leap was behind only two other Buckeyes on the day.
The last Ohio State running back to be selected in the NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens’ J.K. Dobbins, had the highest yards per carry average among all running backs last season.