The 49ers ran the ball 31 times in their preseason win over the Vikings. Second-year running back Trey Sermon had five of those carries after dealing with an ankle injury leading into the game. Sermon had just eight yards on those five attempts.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Sunday in a conference call weighed in on whether he saw anything more than he wanted to see from the 2021 third-round pick.
“No. It’s about what I thought,” Shanahan said. “I was glad that he was able to start the game and help us out through that. And it didn’t last that long, but he took advantage of the plays that he had.”
Sermon’s lackluster outing was his second of the preseason. He has 19 yards on 11 preseason carries. There was also a bad third-down drop Saturday. The ankle could’ve played a role vs. Minnesota, and the struggling offensive line could’ve played a role in both games. However, rookies Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price combined to rush for 98 yards on 19 carries Saturday. Second-year undrafted free agent JaMycal Hasty had 15 yards on three carries and caught a touchdown on one of his two targets.
Just based on statistical output it would appear the two first-year players have a leg up on Sermon in their hunt for roster spots. Shanahan was complimentary of Mason and Davis-Price, but also noted the two have plenty to continue working on.
“Yeah, I thought they all had a couple of good runs where they did break some tackles and create,” Shanahan said. “I thought they also had some holes that they missed where it’s not blocked great, but we have to get at least a yard on a couple of those. They all got running skills, so they do good jobs when they get the ball a number of times, but just trying to make them all be complete all-around backs to where they know their assignments and protections, know all the right techniques and the handoffs, know the way to line up in the formations, not having to ask the quarterbacks and stuff like that. And those are things we’re constantly trying to work on with all those young backs.”
The 49ers RB room is one of the most interesting aspects of their roster construction. Second-year RB Elijah Mitchell will make the club. Veteran Jeff Wilson Jr. and Davis-Price, a third-round pick in this year’s draft, should also be on the roster. Hasty, Sermon, and Mason will all battle for at least one, or maybe two spots.
San Francisco has a week of practice and one preseason game left to iron out those details, but going into the final preseason week it sounds like Sermon is trailing the other two in the hunt for a spot on the final roster.
