Steelers Sign Physical Ex-Ohio State RB after Tryout

Steelers Sign Physical Ex-Ohio State RB after Tryout
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing veteran running back Trey Sermon after a tryout at the team’s rookie minicamp over the weekend, according to a report by Jordan Schultz of FOX.

Sermon, 26, was a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. He has bounced around through his four-year NFL career, spending one season in San Francisco, one with the Philadelphia Eagles and two with the Indianapolis Colts.

He had the best game of his career with the Colts against Steelers in 2023, rushing 17 times for 88 yards while filling in for an injured Jonathan Taylor.

Last season was his most productive overall in the NFL. With the Colts, he ran 56 times for 159 yards, and caught 16 of 19 targets for 99 yards, totaling a career-best 259 yards from scrimmage.

The Steelers were familiar with Sermon in the 2021 NFL Draft process, highly scouting the Ohio State running back.

“I thought they were gonna draft me,” Sermon told Steelers Now on Saturday. “I talked to them throughout the whole process quite a bit, met with them at the combine.”

The 6-foot, 215-pound back got his college career started at Oklahoma, where he played for three seasons. He then transferred to Ohio State in 2020, where he played in eight games and ran for 870 yards on 116 rushes — a career-best 7.5 yards per carry.

Sermon joins a crowded Steelers running backs room behind projected starter Jaylen Warren, with second-round Kaleb Johnson, free agent acquisition Kenneth Gainwell, kick returner and last season’s third-string running back Cordarrelle Patterson, returning depth options Aaron Shampklin and Jonathan Ward and Evan Hull, who was also signed from the Colts this offseason.

Despite that, Sermon said he was booking his travel the second he got the invitation to try out, and his hard work has been rewarded with a contract.

This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Sign Physical Ex-Ohio State RB after Tryout