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According to a report from All Sooners SI, coming off his best game of the season, it looks like Jalen Redmond will be forced to miss some time due to a meniscus tear in his knee.
It’s a massive letdown after Redmond led the team in pressures in the week three win over Nebraska per Pro Football Focus. He was a dominant force, recording 1.5 sacks. After missing time from opting out due to COVID-19 concerns, Redmond looked to be back to the form that helped him lead the Oklahoma Sooners in sacks in 2019.
As the leader in snaps among interior defensive linemen, Redmond leaves a massive hole that needs to be filled. In particular, his pass-rush snaps, which are tied for the team lead with Isaiah Thomas, will be missed greatly.
Perrion Winfrey is still around to provide his bullish play on the interior, and Isaiah Thomas could help out there as he did in 2020, but who else could step into a more significant role and fill Redmond’s shoes while he’s out?
Stepping in to replace Redmond will be a contingent of Josh Ellison, Isaiah Coe, Kori Roberson, LaRon Stokes, and Kelvin Gilliam. Ellison and Coe will get the first crack with the defense to fill in for Redmond, and both have played well in their roles as rotational defensive linemen.
Isaiah Coe and Josh Ellison are tied with Perrion Winfrey in Pro Football Focus’ “stops*” metric with four. They’ve been productive for the Sooners this season.
Coe has one sack and three tackles for loss on the season and hasn’t missed a tackle. Ellison also has a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
The Sooners won’t be able to completely replicate Jalen Redmond’s production with just one guy. But a steady rotation of Coe and Ellison should be able to bear the weight on the interior left in Redmond’s absence.
*PFF considers a stop a play that constitutes a loss for the offense. It could be a sack, a tackle for loss, a tackle for a short gain, a pass defended, or a tackle that prevented the ball carrier from picking up a first down on third or fourth down.
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