By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The Topper
A couple of things to update you on…
>When Baylor goes through its first full fall scrimmage at McLane Stadium on Saturday, don’t look for any stat reports from it.
>Checked in with West Orange-Stark and Baylor 2021 LB commit Tyrone Brown about how things went for his family with the onslaught that Hurricane Laura brought. As we told you, his family made plans to leave that part of Texas before the Hurricane arrived. They did. They were in Arlington.
Brown said from what the family has heard, their house didn’t appear to take too much damage and that normal cleanup would be needed. Obviously, they were all relieved to know that they were spared for the most part.
The scary thing is that Orange, Texas is about 30 minutes away from Lake Charles, La. which was near the epicenter of where Laura made landfall early Thursday morning.
>Baylor officials have said they have not received too much blowback from season ticket holders or fans in general about the decision to cancel tailgating for the 2020 season. People have been pretty understanding given the uncertainty that surrounds the season itself.
>This coming week, I’m going to be restarting the Baylor commitment stat chart. We’ll only have two between Lindale RB Jordan Jenkins and Wall OL Tate Williams. The chart will run on Wednesday. It will be same look as you've come to know it. Wall plays Eastland and Lindale plays Kauffman. Both games are Friday.
Everybody else has either not started or will not be playing this fall. For instance, Albuquerque (NM) defensive end Sam Carrell will not have a senior season as New Mexico has canceled fall sports. That likely played a role in Carrell graduating in December and planning to arrive at Baylor in January.
Rivals position rankings: A breakdown
By now, you know that several Baylor 2021 commits received a bump from the latest round of Rivals rankings.
The biggest impact was Dallas Jesuit offensive lineman Ryan Lengyel making his debut at three stars and a 5.7 rating. Remember, he wasn’t rated. That helped Baylor push to No. 28 overall in the team rankings.
However, there are a couple of things to note when it comes to the position rankings that were released on Thursday. Let’s take a look at those:
Dual-threat QB
Rivals rated the Top 25 QBs in the country for this. Shadow Creek commit Kyron Drones is right in the middle at No. 13. He is ranked above other QBs committed to Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Stanford, Nebraska, TCU and Virginia.
An eye-opening performance at the Elite 11 Showcase in July in Murfreesboro, TN helped his value elevate from a 5.5 to a 5.7. Give him some time. If he has a solid senior season, he could have a chance to move into the four stars and perhaps the 250. Currently, Drones is the No. 46 player rated in Texas.
Running back
Rivals rated the Top 45 RBs throughout the land. Lindale commit Jordan Jenkins snuck in there at No. 44. That isn’t too bad considering that his rating didn’t change from 5.6 in the previous year.
Considering that he is a solid pass catcher, he will bring his own version of being a dual threat to an offense. Jenkins is also the No. 82 player rated in Texas.
Wide receiver
Rivals rated the Top 100 WRs at this position. There’s no question that Baylor has a solid receiving class between Summer Creek’s Elijah Bean, Duncanville’s Roderick Daniels and George Ranch’s Javon Gipson.
But the highlight is Mansfield Summit’s Hal Presley. Presley came into the current rankings at No. 73. Remember, Baylor beat out the likes of Texas and USC for Presley, so this was a really good recruiting win that started with Matt Rhule’s staff and concluded with Dave Aranda’s. Presley is the No. 60 rated player in Texas.
Offensive tackle
Rivals rated the Top 75 players at this position. For a debut, Dallas Jesuit’s Ryan Lengyel had the double whammy if you will. Not only did he come it at 5.7, he’s also rated No. 49 among all prospects at his position.
Lengyel is rated higher than those prospects committed to Auburn, TCU, Arizona State, Louisville, NC State and UCLA.
Lengyel chose Baylor over Texas when he committed on Aug. 8.
Offensive guard
Rivals rated the Top 25 players at this position. Georgetown’s Connor Heffernan came in at No. 14.
Heffernan is one of two offensive line recruits with a 5.7 rating. The other is Lengyel. He committed to Baylor back in May and continues to grow in stature. He is the No. 54 player in Texas and is the highest rated of any of the Baylor offensive line commits.
Defensive tackle
Rivals rated the Top 45 players at this position. DeSoto’s Byron Murphy came in at No. 24.
Keep in mind that when Murphy committed to Baylor back in June, he had a Top 10. However, it was thought then that the Top 3 were Baylor, Minnesota and Mississippi State.
Murphy is rated higher than recruits committed to Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Wisconsin. He is the No. 61 recruit in Texas.
Cornerback
Rivals rated the Top 70 players at this position. Stillwater (OK) Tevin Williams came in at No. 44.
Williams, who was somewhat of a surprise commit when he did so in mid-April, is ranked higher than those commits who are pledged to Florida State, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Minnesota.
You don’t hear a lot about him in the last months. But he was probably the first big recruiting win for Dave Aranda’s staff. Williams is the No. 4 player rated in Oklahoma.
Safety
Rivals rated the Top 55 players at this position. Weatherford’s Cicero Caston came in at No. 37.
Caston was another combination recruiting effort between the previous staff under Matt Rhule and Aranda’s staff. The important thing is that Rhule’s staff built the foundation back in the fall of 2019.
Caston is rated higher than those commits who are heading to Auburn, Florida and Mississippi State. His length (6-3) makes him one of the most intriguing players in this class.
He is the No. 63 recruit in Texas.
Final analysis: What this exercise should demonstrate is the depth of this 2021 class Aranda and his staff are putting together. Baylor has seven players who have 5.7 ratings as three stars. There are also eight players in these position rankings.
What this should tell you is that this class is balanced. If you had several four stars and the rest at 5.5 and three stars it would be an imbalanced class. However, this group is not. Plus, there is the chance that several of these at 5.7 could move up. And there are likely more spots to fill.
Publisher
The Topper
A couple of things to update you on…
>When Baylor goes through its first full fall scrimmage at McLane Stadium on Saturday, don’t look for any stat reports from it.
>Checked in with West Orange-Stark and Baylor 2021 LB commit Tyrone Brown about how things went for his family with the onslaught that Hurricane Laura brought. As we told you, his family made plans to leave that part of Texas before the Hurricane arrived. They did. They were in Arlington.
Brown said from what the family has heard, their house didn’t appear to take too much damage and that normal cleanup would be needed. Obviously, they were all relieved to know that they were spared for the most part.
The scary thing is that Orange, Texas is about 30 minutes away from Lake Charles, La. which was near the epicenter of where Laura made landfall early Thursday morning.
>Baylor officials have said they have not received too much blowback from season ticket holders or fans in general about the decision to cancel tailgating for the 2020 season. People have been pretty understanding given the uncertainty that surrounds the season itself.
>This coming week, I’m going to be restarting the Baylor commitment stat chart. We’ll only have two between Lindale RB Jordan Jenkins and Wall OL Tate Williams. The chart will run on Wednesday. It will be same look as you've come to know it. Wall plays Eastland and Lindale plays Kauffman. Both games are Friday.
Everybody else has either not started or will not be playing this fall. For instance, Albuquerque (NM) defensive end Sam Carrell will not have a senior season as New Mexico has canceled fall sports. That likely played a role in Carrell graduating in December and planning to arrive at Baylor in January.
Rivals position rankings: A breakdown
By now, you know that several Baylor 2021 commits received a bump from the latest round of Rivals rankings.
The biggest impact was Dallas Jesuit offensive lineman Ryan Lengyel making his debut at three stars and a 5.7 rating. Remember, he wasn’t rated. That helped Baylor push to No. 28 overall in the team rankings.
However, there are a couple of things to note when it comes to the position rankings that were released on Thursday. Let’s take a look at those:
Dual-threat QB
Rivals rated the Top 25 QBs in the country for this. Shadow Creek commit Kyron Drones is right in the middle at No. 13. He is ranked above other QBs committed to Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Stanford, Nebraska, TCU and Virginia.
An eye-opening performance at the Elite 11 Showcase in July in Murfreesboro, TN helped his value elevate from a 5.5 to a 5.7. Give him some time. If he has a solid senior season, he could have a chance to move into the four stars and perhaps the 250. Currently, Drones is the No. 46 player rated in Texas.
Running back
Rivals rated the Top 45 RBs throughout the land. Lindale commit Jordan Jenkins snuck in there at No. 44. That isn’t too bad considering that his rating didn’t change from 5.6 in the previous year.
Considering that he is a solid pass catcher, he will bring his own version of being a dual threat to an offense. Jenkins is also the No. 82 player rated in Texas.
Wide receiver
Rivals rated the Top 100 WRs at this position. There’s no question that Baylor has a solid receiving class between Summer Creek’s Elijah Bean, Duncanville’s Roderick Daniels and George Ranch’s Javon Gipson.
But the highlight is Mansfield Summit’s Hal Presley. Presley came into the current rankings at No. 73. Remember, Baylor beat out the likes of Texas and USC for Presley, so this was a really good recruiting win that started with Matt Rhule’s staff and concluded with Dave Aranda’s. Presley is the No. 60 rated player in Texas.
Offensive tackle
Rivals rated the Top 75 players at this position. For a debut, Dallas Jesuit’s Ryan Lengyel had the double whammy if you will. Not only did he come it at 5.7, he’s also rated No. 49 among all prospects at his position.
Lengyel is rated higher than those prospects committed to Auburn, TCU, Arizona State, Louisville, NC State and UCLA.
Lengyel chose Baylor over Texas when he committed on Aug. 8.
Offensive guard
Rivals rated the Top 25 players at this position. Georgetown’s Connor Heffernan came in at No. 14.
Heffernan is one of two offensive line recruits with a 5.7 rating. The other is Lengyel. He committed to Baylor back in May and continues to grow in stature. He is the No. 54 player in Texas and is the highest rated of any of the Baylor offensive line commits.
Defensive tackle
Rivals rated the Top 45 players at this position. DeSoto’s Byron Murphy came in at No. 24.
Keep in mind that when Murphy committed to Baylor back in June, he had a Top 10. However, it was thought then that the Top 3 were Baylor, Minnesota and Mississippi State.
Murphy is rated higher than recruits committed to Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Wisconsin. He is the No. 61 recruit in Texas.
Cornerback
Rivals rated the Top 70 players at this position. Stillwater (OK) Tevin Williams came in at No. 44.
Williams, who was somewhat of a surprise commit when he did so in mid-April, is ranked higher than those commits who are pledged to Florida State, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Minnesota.
You don’t hear a lot about him in the last months. But he was probably the first big recruiting win for Dave Aranda’s staff. Williams is the No. 4 player rated in Oklahoma.
Safety
Rivals rated the Top 55 players at this position. Weatherford’s Cicero Caston came in at No. 37.
Caston was another combination recruiting effort between the previous staff under Matt Rhule and Aranda’s staff. The important thing is that Rhule’s staff built the foundation back in the fall of 2019.
Caston is rated higher than those commits who are heading to Auburn, Florida and Mississippi State. His length (6-3) makes him one of the most intriguing players in this class.
He is the No. 63 recruit in Texas.
Final analysis: What this exercise should demonstrate is the depth of this 2021 class Aranda and his staff are putting together. Baylor has seven players who have 5.7 ratings as three stars. There are also eight players in these position rankings.
What this should tell you is that this class is balanced. If you had several four stars and the rest at 5.5 and three stars it would be an imbalanced class. However, this group is not. Plus, there is the chance that several of these at 5.7 could move up. And there are likely more spots to fill.
