Released by the Cardinals.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s coaching staff is on the road looking for the future. But it also needs to ensure what it presently has on its roster can help it bounce back in 2023.

It’s fair to say the wide receiver corps didn’t perform up to expectations in 2022. There was hope that a couple would emerge as the go-to performers as the season evolved. However, that didn't materialize.

No Baylor receiver finished with more than 600 receiving yards. Baylor’s 231.4 passing/receiving yards per game ranked 8th in the Big 12. The 19 touchdowns tied for last with Iowa State. Indeed, there needs to be an about face with this group. Occasionally, the big play presented itself. However, this part of the offense was far too inconsistent.

In a new series, we break down how Baylor’s positions may play out this fall. On Monday, we started with the quarterbacks. We continue with the wide receivers.

The lead WRs: Baylor typically lines up in three wide receiver sets. Baylor’s leading pass catcher – Monaray Baldwin – led this team with 33 receptions and 565 yards. The Big 12’s top 10 receivers in 2022 ranged from 107 to 52. See the gap?

Ideally, there needs to be that lead presence. That’s where Arkansas transfer Ketron Jackson becomes the favorite. He signed with Baylor in December with hopes of becoming that figure and will see a lot of attention. Jackson was just 16-277 (17.3, 3TD) for the Razorbacks in 2022. But he was playing behind others. Now, he must set the tone in the locker room and on the field. If he is to fulfill these expectations – especially winning 50-50 balls and playing physical which is how he is scouted – Jackson's productivity is crucial. A season of 50+ receptions is what should be expected.

Baldwin should be a starter as well in the slot but he can move around as well. He can be the home run hitter as his first two seasons have shown. However, Baldwin would serve this offense well as the No. 2 receiving option. He’s the most experience of any of the returners.

That third spot is up for grabs. Hal Presley would appear to be the one to have the opportunity (32-382, 11.9, 3TD) because his makeup is similar to Jackson’s. They could be bookends. Presley had his moments. Now, it’s time for him to take the next step.

Depth Chart: With Jaylen Ellis off to Colorado via the transfer portal, the likes of Josh Cameron and Armani Winfield are the two best candidates to make up the other two options.

Much was made of the former walk-on Cameron’s rise to scholarship status last spring. It was a learning experience (28-386, 13.8) as he is still looking for his first career TD reception. Winfield was secured shortly before the early 2022 signing period in December 2021. He only caught one pass. It’s now time for him to take that next step in his growth.

Then there are others like Elijah Bean, Jordan Nabors (who was a pretty good return specialist and has a little juice) and Cameron Bonner. It wouldn’t hurt Baylor to scour the portal for a grad transfer receivers.

The bottom line is that this group needs to look nothing like it did in 2022. It needs to present a scouting problem for the opponent.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s coaching staff is on the road looking for the future. But it also needs to ensure what it presently has on its roster can help it bounce back in 2023.

You want tight ends? Baylor has tight ends. Try nine on the roster. That’s right, nine split between scholarship and walk ons. While schools across the country like to fashion themselves at WRU for their wealth of receivers or DBU because they have a history producing great defensive backs, the Bears could brand themselves as TEU. Maybe it’s not as exciting. But given how this position should play a vital role in the offense, there is some truth in that.

Baylor tight ends accounted for a little more than 500 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2022. What should be interesting with this group is how they are used. Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes can use two or three in any set for any down at any spot on the field. Whether they are chipping a defensive end or blitzing linebacker or being a part of the passing game, this position will contribute mightily.

In a new series, we break down how Baylor’s positions may play out this fall. On May 9, we started with the quarterbacks. We continue with the tight ends.

How it starts: Well, that’s going to be a moving target. While one may be considered No. 1 on the depth chart, this is not going to be just a one type of thing. Maybe the way to look at this is who will be the most used. The candidates are Drake Dabney, Kelsey Johnson and North Texas transfer Jake Roberts.

Each are very solid pass catchers. Dabney (16-173, 10.8) was splitting time with Sims before he broke his leg at Texas Tech last year and missed the remainder of 2022. But he’s probably the most physical blocker of the three. Roberts enjoyed a very solid career at North Texas (28-394, 14.1, 3TD in 2022). He appeared in 37 games for the Mean Green. His size (6-5, 250) offers a little something extra. Johnson gave a glimpse of what he could do last year with his two-touchdown performance against TCU, including the score on the fly sweep. Grimes can be creative with Johnson and use him as a fourth receiver because Johnson offers the speed to do that.

Their productivity may be important early as the wide receiver group finds its identity.

Other options: Touches and game time will be few and far between for the rest of this group. Walk on Gavin Yates appeared in all 13 games in 2022 and was needed when Dabney went down. Cody Mladenka redshirted in 2022 and could be more in the mix. The future is bright for 2023 signees and January arrivals Hawkins Polley and Matthew Klopfenstein. Maybe each sees some time against Texas State and then the game against FCS Long Island. However, these two will be served best by being sponges and working toward becoming P5 ready.

This is probably the most complete part of the offense. There’s nothing wrong with saying that. When tight ends are effective, they change the game. This position will have an impact on the success of 2023.

Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media

Login to view embedded media He has OVs set for Vanderbilt on June 2 and SMU June 16.
Login to view embedded media

This is Baylor's final Big 12 series. Bears must win at least two in order to feel like they have a chance to make the Big 12 tournament. Kansas (7-14) has a non-con series with Samford this weekend then finishes next week at Texas Tech. The Bears can't finish in a tie with the Jayhawks because they were swept in Lawrence March 31-April 2.

But TCU needs this series because projections have them missing the NCAA tournament. It is a rivalry so we'll see what happens at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth.

LEADING OFF
• Baylor Baseball travels north to Fort Worth for an important Big 12 series against TCU this weekend, its final conference series of the 2023 season.

• BU embarks on a season-closing sprint, with seven remaining games scheduled over the next nine days.

• The Bears are coming off a pair of midweek losses against Grand Canyon and Lamar.

• 9 of the 13 runs BU allowed this week were unearned.

• Baylor is 15-7 this season when scoring six or more runs and 6-0 when scoring 10 or more runs.

• BU is also 11-2 this year when leading the ballgame after six innings and 11-4 when out-hitting its opponent.

• Baylor leads the all-time series, 151-130, over TCU.


PROBABLE STARTERS
• Friday, May 12 • 3:30 p.m. • RHP Will Rigney (3-2, 3.55 ERA) vs. RHP Louis Rodriguez (1-1, 4.46 ERA)

• Saturday, May 13 • 4:00 p.m. • TBD vs. TBD

• Sunday, May 14 • 1:00 p.m. • TBD vs. TBD

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s coaching staff is on the road looking for the future. But it also needs to ensure what it presently has on its roster can help it bounce back in 2023.

Baylor’s offensive line is probably the great unknown for 2023. All five starters from the 2022 season left either through graduation or through the NCAA transfer portal.

All of Baylor’s offensive numbers dropped drastically between the running game and passing game. The unit yielded 22 sacks and 30 QB hurries. That’s really about the same from 2021 when it surrendered 18 sacks and 33 hurries.

Given the way this experienced group went through inconsistent play, it may not be a totally bad thing that there are wholesale changes. With any offensive line, it’s going to be a matter of time for the first five to gel. That has been offensive line coach Eric Mateos’ task since January when the offseason began.

In a new series, we break down how Baylor’s positions may play out this fall. On May 9, we started with the quarterbacks. We continue with the offensive line.

Projected starting five: If you want to look at the first series of the Green & Gold game on April 22, here is who Baylor had lined up left tackle to right tackle: LT Campbell Barrington, LG Gavin Byers, C Clark Barrington, RG Elijah Ellis, RT Timothy Dawn.

That’s probably a pretty good place to start. With the Barrington brothers who transferred from BYU, it has long been thought that Campbell would move in to take over the anchor (LT) spot of the offensive line. He made six starts in 2021 and play in nine games in 2022 before suffering a season-ending thumb injury. Although he was the starting left guard for BYU in 2022, Clark worked his way toward playing center. Baylor needs experience in the middle.

Byers has seen the most significant playing time of any of the returners. He made 15 career starts and played in 35 games going back to the 2020 season. That’s a natural move to have him in there.

The right side is wide open. Ellis only played in the 2022 season opener against Albany. Dawn also played against Albany. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if early in the season a healthy number of running plays run to the left side. Whether it’s Ellis and Dawn or others, that side will be viewed as the weaker one until it shows that it’s not.

Building depth: It wouldn’t hurt Baylor scan the portal to see if there is a grad transfer available just to have one. It can go into June if it wants should it find one. That candidate could arrive for the second summer session in July and be available for fall camp.

However, the depth candidates begin with George Maile, arguably the most decorated offensive lineman Baylor has secured since Spencer Drango and possibly could start the season opener against Texas State, along with Tate Williams, Alvin Ebosele and Ryan Lengyel. Williams appeared in all 13 games last fall. The others saw spot duty. Baylor needs a solid rotation of three to have eight quality offensive linemen.

From this, had Baylor not taken an aggressive approach with the portal and landed the Barringtons, this position group would have been shaky at best. Now that they are here, those fears have been quelled to some point.

The only time offensive lines are talked about when QBs are getting hit too much and running backs aren’t breaking through. This might take some time for the line to evolve. Just hope that what’s being seen in October will be far better than what’s being seen in September…for the right reasons.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s need for secondary help for the 2023 season picked up an important piece look on Saturday.

Utah State cornerback transfer Ajani Carter announced he has committed to the Bears. Baylor beat out Indiana, Penn State and BYU. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Login to view embedded media
The Galena Park North Shore product enjoyed a robust career at Utah State.

He was signed by the Aggies as a receiver but switched positions to play defensive back following the 2019 season. Carter turned into a productive player in both 2021 and 2022.

In 2021, Carter played in 13 games and collected 45 tackles to go along with two tackles for loss and three interceptions. He had a career-high seven tackles in the Mountain West Championship Game against San Diego State.

Carter has a knack for creating turnovers beyond interceptions. Besides his interceptions, he forced three fumbles and recovered one in his two seasons.

It’s no secret that Baylor’s secondary missed the ball hawking skills in 2022 that played such a pivotal role in its 2021 Big 12 Championship and Sugar Bowl Championship season. It relied on its safety play to be a menace to opposing offenses.

It’s hoped that new defensive coordinator Matthew Powledge, who will continue working with the safeties, will recreate that angle.

Is Jalen Bridges gone for sure or is there a chance he will be back. Any skinny on potential transfers we might still have a chance of getting. Looks like we only have 9 players without Bridges

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s coaching staff is on the road looking for the future. But it also needs to ensure what it presently has on its roster can help it bounce back in 2023.

The running game is the epicenter of the RVO’s success. A back can pick the hole he chooses to break through and collect enough to keep drives going and eventually find the one that leads to a big gain.

The Bears rushed for 2,371 yards and 34 scores in 2022. Break that down, they averaged 4.4 yards per carry and 182.4 yards per game. Those were solid numbers. However, it was a big drop off of 800 yards, 37 yards per game and one yard per carry from 2021.

In a new series, we break down how Baylor’s positions may play out this fall. On Monday, we started with the quarterbacks. We continue with the running backs.

Lead back: While the running game across all levels of football focus on a distribution of carries, there still is the need for someone to be considered the primary ball carrier.

In Baylor’s case, that’s going to be an interesting watch between sophomore Richard Reese and Oklahoma State transfer, junior Dominic Richardson. Reese is the leading returning rusher from 2022 when he finished with 972 yards. After rushing for 148 yards Oct. 29 at Texas Tech, Reese totaled just 181 yards in his last five games. It’s unknown what caused the slowdown other than the coaching staff wanting to pace a young player through the end of the season.

Richardson was Oklahoma State’s leading rusher from 2022. But that really isn’t saying much since he finished with 543 yards and averaged just 3.6 yards per carry.

But he does offer a veteran presence that Baylor’s backfield needs. Plus, the departure of Sqwirl Williams to Louisiana Tech means there will be opportunities.

If the staff’s goal is to balance the carries between its top two rushers, then Richardson should fill that.

In 2022, Reese had 198 carries. Williams had 101. For clarity, Richardson collected 149.

You could see this play out to where one game Reese has the most carries at 17-20 and then Richardson the most in the next game. But the gap between those two should be fairly close. Still, never discount the hot hand.

Secondary Backs: Baylor really needs four quality running backs in its system for depth and to make the RVO really wear down the opponent. After Qualan Jones, it stopped. Blake Shapen was the fourth-leading rusher in terms of attempts. And it stopped because expected starter Taye McWilliams was lost for the season after the BYU game with a concussion. Now, McWilliams is no longer part of the program.

Jones should still be that third back since he enjoyed his most productive season at Baylor (92-462, 5.0 7TD). Hopes are high with 2023 signee and January arrival Bryson Washington from Franklin. But he is coming off a 16-game season where he had more than 200 carries and 2,000 yards. Coaching staff might want to watch that a bit. While Jordan Jenkins was thought at one point to enter the NCAA transfer portal, that apparently did not happen. He only had three attempts in 2022.

This running game always has a chance to be solid. Managing it through 12 games is a challenge. Sometimes, the answers reveal themselves. Of course, it’s going to depend on how a re-constructed offensive line is going to gel.

OLB Victor Obi entered the transfer portal Thursday as a grad transfer. Not a big deal because he wasn't even on the 2023 spring football roster.

Just passing along.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s need for secondary help for the 2023 season will get a look this coming weekend.

Utah State safety transfer Ajani Carter told SicEmSports he plans to take an official visit to Baylor this coming weekend. He has one year of eligibility remaining. The Galena Park North Shore product enjoyed a robust career at Utah State.

Login to view embedded media
He was signed by the Aggies as a receiver but switched positions to play defensive back following the 2019 season. Carter turned into a productive player in both 2021 and 2022.

In 2021, Carter played in 13 games and collected 45 tackles to go along with two tackles for loss and three interceptions. He had a career-high seven tackles in the Mountain West Championship Game against San Diego State.

He then followed that up in 2022 playing 10 games. Carter remained just as consistent with 44 tackles including for one for loss. He also collected one interception.

Carter has a knack for creating turnovers beyond interceptions. Besides his interceptions, he forced three fumbles and recovered one in his two seasons.

It’s no secret that Baylor’s secondary missed the ball hawking skills in 2022 that played such a pivotal role in its 2021 Big 12 Championship and Sugar Bowl Championship season. It relied on its safety play to be a menace to opposing offenses.

It’s hoped that new defensive coordinator Matthew Powledge, who will continue working with the safeties, will recreate that angle.

We ran a little longer this week. Talked about the decision on the starting quarterback being delayed, Ajani Carter, and how NIL is changing college sports.



Came in at 29:11

Listen to the podcast here

I figured this would be a difficult season but not this bad. Final Big 12 series Friday-Sunday at TCU. They likely need to win two to feel like they have a chance to make the Big 12 tournament.

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (16-32) fell to Lamar (28-20) on Wednesday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco by a final of 9-2.

Junior RHP Jared Matheson worked a season-long five innings and struck out a personal-best six batters in his no decision. The Cardinals scored eight runs, including six unearned, over the last three frames to claim the victory.

Sophomore C Cortlan Castle extended his team-leading on-base streak to 12 games, while junior OF Hunter Simmons and redshirt freshman OF Gavin Brzozowski each picked up a pair of hits on the night.

Nothing you can do about it, but I really do not like intra-Conference transfers

ARLINGTON, Texas – Baylor baseball will take part in the 2024 Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, it was announced Wednesday by REV Entertainment in conjunction with the Texas Rangers.

BU joins a field that includes Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee and fellow Big 12 members Oklahoma and Texas Tech to participate in next season’s opening-weekend tournament on February 16-18, 2024, at the home of the Texas Rangers.

“We are extremely excited to participate in the 2024 Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington,” said head coach Mitch Thompson. “What a memorable experience it will be for our players to compete at a big-league ballpark against a great field of opponents. We look forward to playing in an elite environment at the home of the Texas Rangers.”

The 2024 tournament marks the fourth year of the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field. The three-day event includes four teams who have previously played games at GLF in Baylor, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Oregon and Tennessee will be making their Globe Life Field debuts during the 2024 Showdown.

Baylor will compete in the Arlington Showdown for the first time in program history, though the Bears have gone 21-18 at the Shriners College Classic, previously held at Minute Maid Park in Houston. BU is 37-30-1 all-time against Nebraska, 1-1 all-time against Tennessee and has never played Oregon.

All games of the 2024 Shriners Children’s College Showdown will be streamed live by FloSports, the exclusive broadcast partner for the tournament. Tickets will go on sale later this year with full details, including the game schedule, still to be announced. For more information, fans can visit ShrinersShowdown.com.

Baylor baseball (16-31) dropped a narrow 4-2 contest to Grand Canyon (31-19) Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, after stranding the winning run on first base to end the ballgame.

Though the Bears collected just one hit, they reached base 10 times on free passes, including five in the bottom of the ninth to nearly come from behind and steal the victory over the Antelopes.



Five BU pitchers combined to scatter four hits and allowed just one earned run in the loss.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said following the April 22 Green & Gold game that he was ready to make a decision on his starting quarterback for the 2023 season.

Aranda was going to let both Blake Shapen and Sawyer Robertson know. If that has happened, it has not been made public yet.

The battle played out throughout the spring campaign. And while one of these two will take the first snap Sept. 2 against Texas State, that doesn’t mean the winner stands in the shotgun on the opening series for all 12 games.

We look at the case and the odds for each being named the starter:

Odds to win the job: Shapen 70 percent
The Why: Loyalty may play into this where Aranda and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes are comfortable with Shapen and are convinced he can put the struggles of 2022 behind him.

There’s nothing wrong with Shapen’s arm. He has a big one. He can make all the throws. What ails him is his decision making and ability to protect the football. Plus, he must get it right mentally if he’s going to have a far different season. In short, confidence needs to be part of his makeup.

Shapen coupled with an under performing and unknown wide receiver corps from 2022 have to change the narrative.

But Shapen likely knows that his margin for error is not going to be very long. Sept. 9 against Utah could be pivotal to him keeping this job.


Odds to win the job: Robertson 30 percent
The Why: He’s the new guy from Mississippi State who worked under one of the best QB whisperers in the game in the late Mike Leach. Robertson left Starkville, MS. in part because of Leach’s passing as well as him reading the room that he was never going to unseat Will Rogers as the starting QB.

What may work against him at this point is that he doesn’t have command of the offense and needs more time to become comfortable. His arm is as big as Shapen’s if not bigger.

While Robertson doesn’t have much of passing history in his time in college, he could be the breath of fresh air that the program and the offense needs to feel better about itself.

The lack of reps in college may play to his advantage because he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know until he gets in there. He’s the new guy. Robertson will get the benefit of the doubt.

If he doesn’t win the starting job, Robertson should be ready. Odds are, he’s going to see significant playing time this fall.

The scenario: Barring injury, I believe this is headed to a situation where Shapen and Robertson go back and forth. As soon as one struggles, the other one is going to be the relief pitcher. That said, each of them controls their destiny. There’s more pressure on Shapen. There’s also pressure on Aranda because he has admitted that he and his staff did not handle the QB room very well in 202

The Portal transfer from Bears didn’t last long there!

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s coaching staff is canvassing the state of Texas and other parts of the country for the future of the program. The Bears have four commitments for the 2024 at this point.

But with offers extended for the current list of the 2024 class, here are the best bets to commit.

QB: Unknown. To this point, the Bears have offered eight and seven have committed elsewhere. And they’re not a player for the nation’s No. 1 player, QB Dylan Raiola. They haven’t offered Northwest Eaton’s Noah Lugo yet but if they did, he would be a candidate. Baylor could go portal here as well.

RB: Kewan Lacy & Harry Stewart III. Lacy has gained a lot of attention of the last couple of months and his spring could change for the better. He already has an Alabama offer. But the Bears are still in this. Stewart probably has the strongest chance. From what we understand, he’s working on an OV.

WR: Tre Griffiths. The Keller product has made multiple trips to Baylor and seems to gel with BU wide receivers coach Dallas Baker well. Would like to feel better about their chances with Fort Bend Ridge Point Ashton Bethel-Roman. But I’m back and forth on their chances.

OL/TE: Really like where Baylor is with Scottsdale (AZ) Dillon Hipp and of course, China Spring’s Greydon Grimes, son of Baylor OC Jeff Grimes. Hipp has his OV set for June 23-25. As for the OL, that’s a good question. Obviously, they have the committed Colton Sieracki from The Woodlands. But there’s some work to do here. If they get an OV from Lindale’s Casey Poe, that helps.

DL: Jaylin Jones. The Beaumont Westbrook standout is having a good rating service camp season. But Baylor did good to get him to come up to the spring game. They seem to be gaining some momentum with Pearland Dawson’s Edward Smith. Their urgency is not as heightened with the spring transfer portal additions of Utah State’s Byron Vaughns and Oregon’s Treven Ma’ae.

LB: The Bears are pretty solid here with the commitments of Lumberton’s Brock Jackson and DeSoto’s Brandon Booker. They are working hard on Red Oak’s Zach Smith and watch them with Draper (UT) Bo Tate.

CB/S: There’s no doubt a need to upgrade. And Baylor could be more inclined to go portal here. But they have some equity built in with Converse Judson safety Myles Davis. There is some momentum with Fort Bend Marshall’s Joshua Lair. Keep an eye out for them with Huntsville CB Isaiah Collins. Some of this could depend if they can secure Utah State safety transfer Ajani Carter’s commitment following this past weekend’s visit.

Baylor Women's Softball gave the 'lower 40" folks a WONDERFUL 'GOING AWAY' Memory

with a SWEEP of the Series, Game One, a walk-off, 9-1, game 2, 5-2, and game 3, 2-1.
RyleeCrandall, Bear Freshman pitcher improved to 15-1 with two wins.
Being a FR, Rylee, looks well prepared to lead the Bear team in the future.
Sic 'em Bears, Rylee, team, fans, be the best you can be.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

OK now that I have your attention, This is my notice to you that I am out for the rest of the week because I am heading to Tuscaloosa for the graduation of my Crimson Tide, Kiley.

She graduates on Friday and we will be there through Sunday. So when she walks across the stage to collect her diploma, I send Nick Saban a pink slip saying that he’s no longer on my payroll.

Time really flies because I can remember when Mrs. Razorback and I said goodbye to her in August 2019 and the drive back to Fort Worth was quiet and we were sick to our stomachs with sorrow. Here we are.

That’s the last one. Now she goes into the real world of teaching just like her Razorback sister.

Of course if something happens on the Ajani Carter visit or breaking commitment news elsewhere, I will be tracking it. But Thursday’s upcoming SicEmSportsCast will serve for the last piece of content for the week.

Baseball does not play this weekend.

Talk to you soon.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media