Will

Redmond

The Packers’ No. 3 safety last season, 26-year-old Redmond made four starts. The No. 68 overall pick of the 2016 draft has salvaged what was looking like a lost career, but he is not a future starter.

Redmond has been practicing, but brought along slowly. He had an outside shot to compete for a starting job, but now appears to be fifth on the depth chart.

Redmond is the 49ers’ annual medical redshirt. He tore his ACL last October. GM Trent Baalke has claimed Redmond will be ready for training camp, but he’s a candidate to begin the year on the reserve/NFI list.

GM Trent Baalke is committed to drafting at least one injured player per season. This year it was Redmond, who was thought to be in the final stages of his recovery from a torn ACL. He went down last October. DC Jim O’Neil said “the plan” is to bring Redmond back as their designated return player later in the season, but that is not a guarantee. The history of Baalke’s “redshirts” is bleak.

Redmond resumed practicing Wednesday, opening a 21-day window for activation. The earliest he could return is Week 9 against the Saints. Redmond was the No. 68 overall pick of the draft. The 49ers’ cornerback depth has been tested by injury.

His 21-day window for activation has officially expired. Redmond is still recovering from an ACL tear he suffered over a year ago. With the Niners headed nowhere this year, the team decided it wasn’t worth bringing Redmond back at less than full strength. He’ll continue rehabbing in hopes of being ready for OTAs next summer.

With no offense being meant to Redmond, he was a spectacular failure of a pick by ex-GM Trent Baalke. Redmond, who made only seven starts for Mississippi State, was coming off a torn ACL when Baalke made him the No. 68 overall pick of last year’s draft. Redmond, like nearly all of Baalke’s “redshirts,” could never get healthy. He’ll likely be released with an injury settlement when/if he gets healthy.

Redmond sat out his entire rookie season recovering from a torn ACL, but he is healthy now. K’Waun Williams looks like the favorite for the nickel job, but Redmond should get his shot in training camp. Rashard Robinson, Dontae Johnson, and third-round rookie Ahkello Witherspoon are expected to compete for starting jobs on the outside.

It’s the first we’ve heard of the 2016 third-round bust after he was let go by the 49ers at final cuts. He missed his entire rookie year as he recovered from a torn ACL, and evidently still wasn’t healthy as of September. The cornerback-needy Chiefs will see if they can capture taxi squad lightning in a bottle.

It would not be a draft if the 49ers did not take a player with a knee injury, and Redmond fills the quota this year after tearing his right ACL in October. “We’re very comfortable with where he’s at and very comfortable that he’ll be ready to go come training camp,” Baalke said. Redmond should be healthy enough to play this year, but he might need some seasoning before he is ready to contribute.