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Freshman cornerback Starrland Baldwin will miss the 2018 season after re-tearing his ACL, Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley announced to reporters at Tuesday’s practice.
Lincoln Riley announces that Starrland Baldwin re-tore his ACL and is out for the year. #Sooners
— Spenser Davis (@Davis_Spenser) August 7, 2018
Out this season with a torn ACL. We noticed him on crutches during yesterday's open practice.
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) August 7, 2018
Riley: "We like what we saw from him early and we’ll be excited to get him back." #Sooners https://t.co/YU4FTdOypW
Baldwin was an early-enrollee for the Sooners in 2018, but he missed spring practice due to an ACL tear suffered prior to arriving in Norman. He was participating in fall practices before suffering another setback.
Oklahoma is fortunately in decent shape with depth at cornerback, but this is obviously a tough blow for Baldwin. Despite not being as highly touted as some of the other members of Oklahoma’s 2018 class (three stars, No. 596 overall), the long and athletic DB has as much upside as anyone OU has signed at his position in recent years. While the Houston (Texas) Cy Falls product may not have made an impact in 2018, this is another major setback for his development. Hopefully he’ll be well enough to hit the ground running by the time spring practice rolls around in 2019.
Baldwin is now one of five Sooners currently expected to miss the 2018 season, joining Michael Thompson, Chanse Sylvie, Jalen Redmond and Prentice McKinney.