Washington Redskins Player Profiles: Silas Redd Jr.

Position: Running Back

Height: 5'10"  Weight: 200 lbs

College: USC

Drafted: Undrafted Free Agent

Updated: 6/29/2015

ilas Redd, Jr. is now in his second season as a member of the Washington Redskins. He has an interesting story that involves death threats following his transfer from Penn State to USC a few years back. Here are five things you should know about him:

#1. Silas Redd, Jr. is from Norwalk, Connecticut and played his high school football at King & Low Heywood Thomas in Stamford, CT. He was a four-star recruit in the class of 2010. According to the 247 Sports Composite, he was the No. 7 running back and the No. 2 player in Connecticut.

#2. He was offered by Stanford, Oregon, Connecticut, Michigan, Boston College, Virginia, Penn State among others. Penn State was his dream school so he committed to the Nittany Lions his junior year of high school according to his father, Silas Redd Sr.

Stats (2 seasons at Penn State): 321 attempts, 1,678 rushing yards (5.2 yards per carry), 9 touchdowns
13 receptions, 67 yards (5.2 yards per catch)

His decision to leave Penn State was followed by unnecessary negative feedback according to Lee Cary of the Collegian, Penn State's student newspaper:

Death threats: "I'm issuing a standing RIP for Silas Redd. He'll be dead by the end of the season," one user ensured.

"Injury wishes: "Silas Redd should probably break his neck next year #trader." Another account wished he dropped a weightlifting bar on his throat."

He had a good reason to leave. Penn State was hit with a four year postseason ban, lost 40 scholarships and a $60 million dollar fine was given by the NCAA for the cover up of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.  Redd, Jr. handled the negativity with class:

"Say what you want about it, but I didn't disrespect anyone," Redd said. "People can hate me after two years, but it doesn't really matter because I know I treated the people I needed to treat with respect."

He prided himself on doing the meeting in-person. He didn't want to do it over the phone. He didn't want to do it over email. Whether or not O'Brien and the athletic director at the time, Dave Joyner, agreed with him, he just wanted them to respect his decision.

In his first year at USC (2012), he started six games and played 12 games that season. He had these numbers: 167 attempts, 905 yards (5.4 yards per carry), and nine touchdowns. He also had nine receptions, 113 yards (12.6 yards per catch) and a touchdown. He earned an All-Pac-12 honorable mention and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 Third Team honor.

As a Senior (2013), Silas Redd Jr. suffered an injury during spring football and it required surgery. He missed the first five games of the season, came back strong and unfortunately had a setback later on which is why he didn't produce to the level of years past. He ran the ball 81 times for 376 yards (4.6 yards per carry) in addition to having 10 receptions for 45 yards (4.5 yards per catch) and one touchdown.

#3. He was picked up by the Redskins as an undrafted free agent May 15, 2014 and although he didn't hear his name called during draft night, he knew the Redskins were interested according to Redskins.com's Stephen Czarda:

"They called me around the fifth- or sixth-round and they told me they were interested in me," Redd said of the Redskins. "As soon as the draft was over [running backs] coach [Randy] Jordan called me and said they wanted to sign me as a free agent."

#4. In Redd's rookie year, he had a solid preseason campaign but he was anxious and nervous about whether he made the team:

"Anxiety was at an all-time high," (But I tried to) stay positive and pray it out with my family. It was a high intensity time.I just came in for work and made it to the locker room, and I didn’t get stopped so I kind of had a sense of what was going on. I went to go talk to Coach Gruden and thanked him, and he kind of confirmed it there."

#5. He now is in his second season with the Redskins looking to make the active roster again. With a host of running backs that includes Alfred Morris and former Florida Gator Matt Jones, expect Redd to work hard in training camp and preseason to earn his spot.

Bottom Line: Silas Redd, Jr. has had a interesting road to the NFL. His past is behind him and as he said about his journey to the pros and his college career, "It was a humbling experience." I say he makes the roster as the third back come time for the active roster to be finalized.