Top 10 running backs in the 2021 NFL Draft

#5 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Trey Sermon (Ohio State)

[6’ 0”, 215 pounds; SR]

Trey Sermon

Trey Sermon started his career at Oklahoma and immediately became an impact performer for the Sooners.

In his first two years in Norman, he racked up just over 2000 yards and 20 touchdowns on 316 touches. As a junior, he barely touched the ball, as Kennedy Brooks got the majority of the work and Sermon got banged up before transferring to Ohio State in his final year of eligibility.

I actually wasn’t really impressed by anything I saw from Sermon in his one short Big Ten regular season. But then he just went off in the conference championship game.

With Justin Fields not really getting anything going through the air, Sermon set a school and Big Ten title game record with 331 rushing yards with two TDs against Northwestern; almost 200 of those yards came after contact. He totaled 254 scrimmage yards against Clemson in the CFP semifinal to send them to the Natty, where he unfortunately got hurt in the first series.

Sermon offers an excellent combination of light feet and power. He is a slicing-type of runner whose legs never stop moving, and he knows how to initiate contact. When he can build up momentum, he can run away or through defenders. You see him bounce or spin off several hits and at times even slip through contact when getting hit from both hides.

Sermon doesn’t make a lot of dramatic moves, outside of a few jump-cuts to get out wide or that little one-two step to get defenders to hesitate and beat them around the edge. But he uses subtle shifts to his running path to limit the area defenders can attack without really losing any speed.

What makes him so unique is the mobility in his hips, as you see, his legs swing really far outside his frame in any direction, but he still keeps his balance. He is shifty enough to make people miss in the open field. But he also runs with enough explosion behind his pads to go through defenders, because when he lowers the shoulder on you, you feel it.

What I really appreciate about Sermon’s game is that he plays fast through his cuts and doesn’t lose a lot of time working around defenders, thanks to very efficient footwork. And he has a very inept feel for kicking his feet up when people try to attack him and using that off-arm very well to kind of chop down the arms of tacklers trying to dive at him.

This former Sooner and Buckeye loves the outside zone game and split zone in particular, which was like 90% of what the Buckeyes ran during that three-game 'playoff' stretch until he got hurt very early in the National Championship game.

Sermon forced 56 missed tackles on just 164 carries in 2018. He then forced a missed tackle rate of 0.33 per rush attempt in 2019, which was right in line with Chiefs' first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

The total numbers weren’t quite there because of the shortened Big Ten season last year, but he broke an incredible 24 tackles on 60 attempts between the conference title and CFP semifinal game.

Sermon wasn’t used a whole lot in the pass game, but he looks like a natural catcher when he gets the chances, whether it’s dealing with different ball-placement on swing routes or working down the sideline. His physicality is also apparent when protecting the quarterback, bringing a ton of thump when picking up charging linebackers and stopping them dead to right at times. He is most effective in that area using cut-blocks, where he actually sends rushers flying.

Bringing those guys with an upright running style is always a little concerning, and I don’t think this guy has top-tier speed. Sermon is a little too much locked in on going downhill in spots, where the defense is caved in, and there’s an opportunity to bounce out wide.

While he does break a lot of tackles when he is in full-steam ahead mode, when a defender gets a clean shot at him in the hole, he doesn’t get out of it a whole lot.

In pass-pro, his arms aren’t always ready to shoot, as they are too low and wide, which exposes his chest and causes him to be knocked back into the quarterback’s lap at times.

As hot as Sermon was while ending his college career, there was about a year-and-a-half period where he was reticent due to multiple factors. When he did have success, it was while running behind two offensive lines that were loaded with NFL talent.

Nevertheless, I still believe Sermon is one of the more complete backs in this 2021 NFL Draft class and is just a very natural runner.

He could best fit a zone-heavy offense that offers him cutback opportunities with sift blocks and features him in run-after-catch situations, where he can keep moving.

Despite being a four-year contributor in college, Sermon doesn’t have a ton of track on his tires, only logging 455 career carries. He hasn’t fumbled the ball since October 2018.

From five to eight, you can argue a lot of different ways, but I think this young man is the most pro-ready, even though teams will want to make themselves very familiar with his medical history.