Transfer Tracker: Oklahoma grad transfer RB Trey Sermon commits to Ohio St.

Oklahoma graduate transfer running back Trey Sermon made his commitment choice on Sunday, announcing via Twitter that he would be headed to Ohio State .The move has been expected since Sermon entered the portal earlier this month, but questions arose as to whether his timeline would be stretched out after the dead period was instituted by the NCAA.

Sermon is immediately expected to step into the starting lineup for the Buckeyes, filling the hole left by JK Dobbins, who left early for the NFL Draft. The Buckeyes depth at the running back position was razor thin following an injury to expected start Master Teague during spring practice.

In his three seasons at Oklahoma, Sermon rushed for 2,076 yards and 22 touchdowns while also catching 36 passes for 391 yards and three scores.

Sermon had his share of early offers and most assumed he was going to end up staying close to home in the SEC at either Tennessee or Georgia. But some injury concerns scared schools away and instead he ended up choosing Oklahoma over Oregon and others during the spring of his junior year.

Sermon stepped right into the lineup after arriving in Norman, rushing for 744 yards and five touchdowns. His workload increased in 2018 and he led the team in rushing touchdowns with 13 while also rushing for a career-high 947 yards. He took a step back in 2019 as his carries were limited and he ran for just 385 yards on 54 carries before suffering a season-ending injury in November.

Sermon announced plans to transfer for his final year of eligibility over the weekend. As a graduate transfer he will be eligible to play this fall at his next school.

"Sermon is a great fit for the Buckeyes offense. Many think of him as a big, downhill back but he’s excellent in space and has shown that and he’s always shown us he has soft hands in the passing game. As Ohio State spreads our opponents Sermon will be very effective just as he was in the Oklahoma offense. He may not be as good as JK Dobbins but there won’t be a huge drop off.– National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell

Impact Rating: 9.1 out of 10

The Transfer Portal continues to change the way college football programs recruit and mange their rosters so we here at Rivals.com continue to evolve our coverage. Each time a player of note enters the portal, we will examine their potential impact on the college football landscape and assign an impact rating, both when they enter the portal and when they choose a destination. The scale is from 1-10 and the description below explains the scoring scale.

1.1-4.0 — Not a big impact expected, likely a non-starter and down the bench depth player.

4.1- 6.0 — A solid impact can be expected in the right scenario and has the potential to battle for a starting job.

6.1-9.0. — A high impact player who won’t change a program but will certainly be a very good contributor and starter.

9.1- 9.9 — A very high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.

10 — A franchise transfer who has a chance to be an All American and one of the elite players in college football.