100 Days to Football Time in Oklahoma: #31 Jalen Redmond By: Ryan Lewis Posted on: August 4, 2021

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 in January of 2017, attending 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 of his freshman season 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. 

2020 was a redshirt season for Redmond, as he opted to not play.

Current Profile

Position: Defensive Lineman

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 279

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

Stats

Stats via Soonersports.com

Highlights

This Season

Jalen Redmond was one of the best Oklahoma defenders in 2019. While still learning some of the finer points, his natural ability, athleticism, and persistence made him a nightmare matchup on the line. PFF has already ranked him as one of the top returning interior defenders returning for the 2021 season. He’ll be back at defensive tackle this season, part of a stout defensive line group. Assuming he can return close to his previous form, he’s going to be a big force for the Sooners this season.