49ers Claim RB Trent Cannon Off Waivers

The San Francisco 49ers announced they claimed running back Trenton Cannon off waivers.

Grant Cohn | Sep 15, 2021

The 49ers just added a fourth running back to their roster.

After placing starter Raheem Mostert on season-ending Injured Reserve, the 49ers claimed former Baltimore Ravens running back Trenton Cannon off Waivers Wednesday afternoon.

Cannon, 27, was the New York Jets' sixth-round pick in 2018. In four seasons in the NFL, Cannon has now played for four teams and rushed just 50 times, and he's averaging a measly 3 yards per carry. And during the Ravens season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, Cannon rushed two times for just five yards. And then the Ravens waived him.

Cannon is a small running back -- 185 pounds. And he ran a 4.4 40-yard dash in 2018. So perhaps his speed will make him a good fit in the 49ers outside zone running scheme. Mostert certainly is a fast runner who hadn't had success before he played for the 49ers. What's more, Cannon has caught 20 passes in his career and gained 160 receiving yards -- a respectable 8 yards per catch.

Ideally, Cannon never will play a down for the 49ers. Because they have rookie Elijah Mitchell, who's the new starter, second-year running back JaMycal Hasty, who's the third-down back, plus Trey Sermon, who was the 49ers' third-round pick. They made him a healthy scratch Week 1, but he almost certainly will suit up Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Plus, midway through the season, Jeff Wilson Jr. should return from a torn meniscus, and then the 49ers most likely will release Cannon. So get to know him while he's here.

Published Sep 15, 2021

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.