100 Days to Football Time in Oklahoma: #31 Jalen Redmond By: Ryan Lewis Posted on: July 29, 2020

The Path to Norman

Jalen Redmond and the Sooners circled each other for a long time. A basketball star, he finally circled back to football during the spring of his sophomore year. Several short months later, with no real film out there, the Oklahoma product attended the 2016 ChampUBBQ. Redmond stayed in touch with the coaching staff after that, making it to several OU games. He finally picked up an OU offer January of 2017, and attended Junior Day a month later. 

OU commits like Jordan Kelley and Patrick Fields continued to push Redmond toward the Sooners. Redmond returned to Norman during the summer of 2017, shortly after Coach Riley took the reins. Finally, the ChampUBBQ of July 2017 saw him decide to play for Oklahoma.

Career so Far

Redmond enrolled early in Norman, showing up in the spring. TFB heard that he was impressing early, but an unfortunate medical situation arose for Jalen. He developed blood clots and had to be admitted to a hospital. Thankfully, a very scary situation took a positive turn. Jalen was fully cleared in October and played in three consecutive games. In that limited action, he looked very much like the real deal, recording six tackles and 2.5 TFL. 

In 2019, Redmond was able to see the field in a much larger role. He played in 13 of the Sooners’ 14 games and showed signs of absolute dominance. Jalen led the team with 6.5 sacks and ranked third with 11.0 TFL, fitting in at defensive tackle. 

Current Profile

Position: Defensive Tackle

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 278

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

Stats

Stats via Soonersports.com

Highlights

2020 Season

Jalen Redmond was one of the best best Oklahoma defenders throughout last season. While still learning some of the finer points, his natural ability, athleticism, and persistence make him a nightmare matchup on the line. Some feel that he may be better at defensive end; with Ronnie Perkins still potentially suspended for the first part of the season, the staff may go that route. However, there are several options to step up at defensive end, with Marcus Stripling the leading option. Look for Redmond to stay at DT and turn in a monster season, potentially leading to All-Big 12 recognition.