Riding the wave of big finish to his 2019 season, Baylor junior safety Grayland Arnold announced Wednesday evening that he is declaring for the NFL draft.

Because of a severe ankle injury, Arnold went through a redshirt season in 2018 and would have been able to return for his senior year in 2020.

A second-team All-Big 12 selection in 2019, Arnold was voted a single jersey number by his teammates in 2017, and 2018 and this season. His strong finish came in the form of five interceptions between two he collected in the Nov. 9 win at TCU and single snares against Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas to close out the regular season.

The 71-yard return against Oklahoma Nov. 23 on national television set up a Baylor touchdown. Arnold’s six interceptions shared the Big 12 lead with Texas Tech’s Douglas Coleman.

In the 26-14 Sugar Bowl loss to Georgia, the Kountze (TX) native collected six tackles including five solos. He finished the season with 46 tackles (33 solos) and had a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown against UTSA.

The declaration also continues to thin Baylor’s already thinning secondary that is losing Jameson Houston and Chris Miller to graduation.

Arnold’s career has also been curtailed by injuries. Before the 2017 season began when he broke his arm in the final fall scrimmage and missed the first three games before returning for Oklahoma.

Arnold was part of the Baylor 2016 and is one of the final links to the Art Briles era. When that recruiting class broke apart after Briles was fired, Arnold decided to come to Waco. He played in 11 games and made four starts in his freshman year under interim coach Jim Grobe.

The surprise announcement comes a day after head coach Matt Rhule departed to the opening with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

Baylor is waiting to see what junior defensive end and consensus All-American James Lynch will do. All underclassman have until Jan. 17 to make their intentions known. The draft is scheduled for April 23-25 in Las Vegas.