49ers, Baalke see no returns on ACL investments

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It was not a good day for 49ers general manager Trent Baalke, who has spent seven draft picks over the past four years on players rehabbing from recent ACL injuries.

The 49ers on Monday morning announced cornerback Will Redmond was headed to injured reserve. The team also reached an injury settlement with wide receiver DeAndre Smelter, who has been bothered by a hamstring injury and never played during the exhibition season.

Here’s a look at the seven players general manager Trent Baalke selected since 2013 who sustained torn ACLs during their final seasons of college. . . 

OLB Tank Carradine, 2013, second round
The 49ers made several miscalculations with Carradine, whom many believed could have been a first-round draft pick if he had not sustained the right knee injury at Florida State in November 2012.

First, the 49ers placed him on their 53-man roster late in his rookie season, though he never played. If he had remained on the non-football injury list, he would be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. Second, Carradine was asked to put on weight and be a defensive tackle.

Finally, Carradine was told to drop weight and be an outside linebacker. That’s where he currently plays for the 49ers, and it appears to be a good fit. Carradine is one of just three outside linebackers on the team to open the season, and could work his way into a significant role as a pass-rush specialist.

UPDATE: Carradine became the first of the players drafted while rehabbing ACL injuries to sign a second contract with the 49ers. The 49ers awarded him a one-year extension through 2017 that includes a $1.25 million signing bonus, a source told CSNBayArea.com.

RB Marcus Lattimore, 2013, fourth round
He sustained a grisly right knee injury for South Carolina in October of 2012. Two years later, and never playing a regular-season or preseason game with the 49ers, he announced his retirement. He sustained a torn left ACL the previous year.

OG Brandon Thomas, 2014, third round
He sustained a torn ACL in a 2014 pre-draft workout for the New Orleans Saints. The 49ers had him rated as a second-round prospect, according to Baalke. But he never played a snap for the 49ers, who traded him last week to the Detroit Lions for slot receiver/return man Jeremy Kerley. The Lions cut Thomas but re-signed him to their practice squad.

CB Keith Reaser, 2014, fifth round
His final season at Florida Atlantic ended in October of 2013 with a torn left ACL. Then, at the NFL scouting combine, an MRI examination revealed he might have tore his ACL again. He underwent surgery in February. The 49ers still drafted him. Reaser, 25, appeared in 13 games last season with no starts. He is one of six cornerbacks on the 49ers’ 53-man roster.

FB Trey Millard, 2014, seventh round
While playing at Oklahoma, he sustained a torn ACL in October of 2013 and spent his rookie season on the non-football injury list. The 49ers released him on their cut to 75 players last year. Millard sustained another ACL tear last week for the Kansas City Chiefs.

WR DeAndre Smelter, 2015, fourth round
Smelter sat out his entire rookie season while rehabbing from his ACL tear. He missed the entire exhibition season due to a hamstring injury. Even when Smelter was healthy and able to practice, he was not impressive.

“He’s a talented kid,” 49ers receivers coach Bob Bicknell said in mid-August. “He’s physical. He can run. He’s a raw player, when you talk about raw players. There is a lot of experience that goes into playing this position, especially at this level.

“He needs some reps. Coming off a knee injury and then there are a million things that go along with that, as anybody who’s been injured realizes. Now you got other things that come up. . . He has all the tools that you want, he just honestly is not yet ready to know how to use them. He just doesn’t.”

CB Will Redmond, 2016, third round
Redmond returned to play in the 49ers’ final two exhibition games after being eased back into action after his final season at Mississippi State ended with his knee injury.

On the night the 49ers selected Redmond in the third round, Baalke said Redmond would be ready to play this season.

“He will be healthy and he will be ready to go,” Baalke said.

Redmond played 20 snaps of defense and seven plays on special teams in the 49ers’ exhibition finale Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers. He appeared to be moving with a lot of discomfort.

On Aug. 22, 49ers defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil said, “I don’t know that he’s all the way back, yet.”

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