49ers take Will Redmond, another torn ACL project, on day 2 of NFL draft

SANTA CLARA - The NFL draft isn’t complete until 49ers general manager Trent Baalke drafts a player with a torn ACL.

This year, Baalke drafted an injured player in Round 3. The player’s name is Will Redmond, a cornerback from Mississippi State, and he tore his right ACL last October.

Redmond is the seventh player with a torn ACL the 49ers have drafted since 2013. The other six players are: DeAndre Smelter, wide receiver, 2015 third-round pick; Brandon Thomas, guard, 2014 third-round pick; Keith Reaser, cornerback, 2014 fifth-round pick; Trey Millard, fullback, 2014 seventh-round pick; Tank Carradine, defensive end, 2013 second-round pick; and Marcus Lattimore, running back, 2013 fourth-round pick. Carradine has started one game in the NFL, and the other five players have started zero.

Redmond started only seven games in college, and didn’t become a starter until 2015, his senior season. That year he intercepted two passes, made 25 tackles and allowed just 11 catches on 23 targets through the first half of the season, according to Pro Football Focus. But Redmond missed the final six games after tearing his ACL during practice.

“It was a one-on-one (drill),” Redmond said, describing how he injured his knee. “The first thing I thought about was I’ve got to get back right because I know I love playing football and I love doing it every day.”

What has Redmond been doing recently since he can’t play?

“Right now, I really just have been rehabbing real good,” Redmond said on a conference call. “I’m working out. I’m ready to get up there and work out with those guys and get with the trainers and get healthy.”

Redmond wasn’t healthy enough at the Combine to run a 40-yard dash, but says he would have run “in the low 4.3s.”

“We had him valued higher than where we took him,” Baalke said in the 49ers’ auditorium. “There is risk on all of this, as we know. The injury, it was a very standard procedure. He is on schedule to slightly ahead of schedule.

“We’ve had a lot of contact with this young man. We know who did the surgery. We also know where he’s rehabbing and who’s rehabbing him. We brought him in for one of the 30 visits. We were just back in Indianapolis before the draft for the recheck. Very comfortable with where he’s at.”

What kind of cornerback will the 49ers get when Redmond finally is ready to go?

“He’s a young man that can play inside and outside,” Baalke said. “We’ll probably start him on the inside, but like I always say, that’s for the coaches to decide. We really like that he’s an explosive athlete. He’s a guy that can run, can jump, can play the ball, he’s physical and fits into what we we’re looking for from a character standpoint.”

One thing that stands out about Redmond above all else, according to Baalke, is quickness: “He’s a quick-twitch athlete. He can stick his foot in the ground, he transitions very well and he’s fearless. He’s 5-10 (and six-eighths), he’s 190 pounds-somewhere in that neighborhood. And he’s not afraid to stick his head in there.”

But when will Redmond be ready to play?

“We think he is healthy and will be ready to go,” Baalke said. “This isn’t a young man that we’re saying we’re going to bring him in and let him go through a six-week NFI (non-football injury).

“This guy is going to come in and be ready to go for training camp, and be thrust into that group to compete for a spot. We like the young group that we have, and this only adds to it.”