Baylor senior safety Jacob Redding is out for today’s opener against Auburn and the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury, SicEm365 has learned.
The 6-foot-1, 198-pounder tried to play through the injury by wearing a large knee brace toward the end of fall camp, but surgery was ultimately needed. Redding, the former walk-on, was primed to build on his strong third year in Waco in defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman’s scheme.
Redding was a major bright spot last year for a defense that struggled to find any positives. The New Braunfels native played in 11 games last year with nine starts, finishing with 53 tackles, 0.5 TFLs, three interceptions and two pass breakups.
He was graded as Baylor’s highest-rated defender according to PFF, with a 75.2 defensive rating, an 81.4 run-defense mark and a rating of 80.0 in tackling and 69.8 in coverage.
Baylor’s safety corps is deep with proven commodities and guys who are battling for more playing time this season.
Fifth-year player Devin Turner transferred to Baylor from Northwestern last offseason but tore his ACL at the end of the spring. He is now fully healthy and expected to man one of the safety spots.
Kansas State transfers Colby McCalister and Daniel Cobbs have been playing multiple safety spots and might be asked to move all around following the injury to Redding.
Tyler Turner and Micah Gifford are two fourth-year guys who have seen some playing time in their careers and are pushing for a larger role.
The Bears have depth at safety, but losing Redding is certainly a massive blow for a defense that needs all the proven commodities it can get heading into a very important season for the program.