Why Trey Sermon could be the perfect Steelers running back

If the Steelers don’t select a running back in the first or second round, look no further than Trey Sermon out of Ohio State University.

Trey Sermon, a senior running back out of The Ohio State University is a monster of a man. Weighing in at 6’1″ 215 LBS, Sermon is an absolute force in the open field and makes DB bounce off the turf with his shoulder pads. He has the makeup of a perfect RB for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sermon served mostly as a backup running back for OSU throughout his college career. This season he finally got his time to shine after Master Teague, the starter went down due to injury.

The tricky thing about Sermon’s senior year is that on paper, his stats aren’t very impressive as a whole. Posting 870 rushing yards with only 4 TDs on the ground. However, if you take a closer look you can see why Sermon has flown up draft boards and currently sits at a 3rd round projection come draft night.

Trey Sermon made a name for himself in two of the biggest games the Buckeyes played in all year. Sermon’s first monster game came in the Big 10 championship against North Western. Sermon posted 331 rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs averaging over 11 yards per carry. Those numbers are absolutely insane. He followed it up with another equally impressive performance in round one of the College Football Playoffs against Clemson and put up 193 yards rushing and a TD against the number 2 ranked Clemson Tigers defense.

How the Steelers could land Sermon

Now that you have some context on Sermon, how he plays and where he’s projected to go in the draft, let’s dive into how the Ohio State running back could land with the Pittsburgh Steelers on draft night.

In the scenario that the Steelers would draft Trey Sermon, it would presumably mean they do not select a running back like Najee Harris or Travis Etienne in the first or second round. In this case, Sermon is the perfect fit for this scenario. He would likely still be on the board in the 3rd round and if the position still hasn’t been addressed by that time in the draft, I highly doubt Kevin Colbert can pass up a shot on a potential game-wrecking runner like Sermon.

My NFL comp for Trey Sermon would be a powerful runner like DeMarco Murray. The raw strength of a three-down tank back is exactly the kind of potential player the Steelers need in the locker room. Even if the Steelers draft him to be used as more of a specialist 3rd and short or 4th and goal kind of player and go to a committee system with Snell, McFarland, and Sermon I’d be all for it. As Steelers fans we all know how awful our boys were at short-yardage situations last season and boy would Sermon turn the tides on that front.

Basically, should Trey Sermon be the Steelers number one choice leading into the draft? No, and I honestly hope they draft a guy like Najee or Travis Etienne. However, if they don’t pull the trigger on a top running back, Ohio State could have a player for them that is ripe for the picking.