The bells and whistles link
By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s spring football season is slated to open March 22 after the Bears return from Spring Break – March 5-13.
As it approaches and even after it begins, there’s no better time than to start looking at the Bears position by position to see how things shake out.
One position in question will be the safeties. The Bears lost JT Woods and Jalen Pitre to the NFL draft. There are jobs open when spring begins. The question will be is if the starters can reach a level that those two did. Pitre and Woods set the bar pretty high.
Baylor also has a new safeties coach in Ronnie Wheat who worked with Dave Aranda while the two were at LSU. Wheat just arrived from Nevada. It’s going to be a matter of him becoming comfortable with what Aranda and Defensive Coordinator Ron Roberts want.
Let’s take a look at the safeties room.
Christian Morgan, 6-1, 214, Super Senior in 2022, Houston Porter
2021 Stats: 21 solo tackles, 8 assisted tackles, 2 TFL
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.7 rating
Lorando Johnson, 5-11, 200, Sophomore in 2022, Lancaster
2021 Stats: 2 solo tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sack
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.7 rating
Devin Neal, 5-11, 200, Junior in 2022, Lexington (KY) Douglass
2021 Stats: 16 solo tackles, 6 assisted tackles, 1 TFL
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.6 rating
Mike Harris, 5-10, 170, Sophomore in 2022, Phenix City (AL) Central
2021 Stats: Recorded no stats
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.6 rating
Devin Lemear, 6-0, 170, Redshirt Freshman in 2022 (played in minimum 4 games), Manor
2021 Stats: 2 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Recruiting: Was a 3-star recruit with a 5.5 rating
Cisco Caston, 6-2, 195, Redshirt Freshman in 2022, Weatherford
2021 Stats: Recorded no stats
Recruiting: Was a 3-star recruit with a 5.6 rating
Also on the roster: Colby Daleshaw (6-0, 194, Walk On, Frisco Wakeland), Collin Losack (5-10, 180, Walk On, Colleyville Heritage)
2022 Signees: Devyn Bobby, DeSoto (arrived in January), Corey Gordon, Putnam City (OK) West (arrives in June), Alfonzo Allen, Miami Central (arrived in January), Jeremy Evans, Tenaha (arrives in June)
A look back to 2021
Baylor’s ball hawking secondary did everything to live up to that reputation. Pitre and Woods had defensive scores. Woods had two interceptions in the Sugar Bowl win over Ole Miss to give him six for the season.
Pitre earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and collected five total turnovers between two interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Those two participated in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis March 3-7.
Without question, the secondary that had high expectations coming into 2021 did not disappoint.
Biggest Question in Spring
Who is going to play the Star? When you have a person of Pitre’s caliber moving on, that’s a sizeable hole to replace.
The Star’s position is invaluable because in this constant nickel package, he is going to be asked to be a jack-of-all-trades between run support, blitzing and dropping back into pass coverage. His instincts need to be at another level because it requires him to read tendencies faster.
Baylor will have a couple of candidates to evaluate in this role. It could be Johnson. It could be Neal. When Evans was recruited, he said that Baylor liked him in this role. However, it may be a little early for him since he doesn’t arrive in the summer, is coming from a small school in Texas and needs to make the adjustment to P5 football.
One guy
Back to Johnson. Remember, he was committed to LSU while Aranda was the defensive coordinator and then decommitted.
As he was looking for a new place to land, he and Aranda connected again in the summer of 2020. He signed and arrived in August. Naturally, he redshirted. But as the 2021 season unfolded, his athleticism and work habits reached a point to where the coaches used him quite a bit down the stretch.
Johnson saw time in both the Big 12 championship game and the Sugar Bowl. There’s a lot to like about him. He has a chance to be a breakout performer.
Early Forecast
Since Morgan announced in January he is returning, he should be in good shape to keep one of the safety positions. He's the elder statesman of this group. His leadership will be important. That doesn’t mean he should be complacent.
Then it comes down to the Star and the other safety spot. For however Aranda, Wheat and Roberts see this, Johnson and the Devins duo (Lemear and Neal) should have the edge over the rest of the candidates to become starters and earn the bulk of the playing time.
Depth may be a question for now. However, the fact that both Bobby and Allen are on campus and going through spring will be important. Their rapid growth could create some confidence that it won’t be that much of a concern by the time fall camp starts.
By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s spring football season is slated to open March 22 after the Bears return from Spring Break – March 5-13.
As it approaches and even after it begins, there’s no better time than to start looking at the Bears position by position to see how things shake out.
One position in question will be the safeties. The Bears lost JT Woods and Jalen Pitre to the NFL draft. There are jobs open when spring begins. The question will be is if the starters can reach a level that those two did. Pitre and Woods set the bar pretty high.
Baylor also has a new safeties coach in Ronnie Wheat who worked with Dave Aranda while the two were at LSU. Wheat just arrived from Nevada. It’s going to be a matter of him becoming comfortable with what Aranda and Defensive Coordinator Ron Roberts want.
Let’s take a look at the safeties room.
Christian Morgan, 6-1, 214, Super Senior in 2022, Houston Porter
2021 Stats: 21 solo tackles, 8 assisted tackles, 2 TFL
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.7 rating
Lorando Johnson, 5-11, 200, Sophomore in 2022, Lancaster
2021 Stats: 2 solo tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sack
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.7 rating
Devin Neal, 5-11, 200, Junior in 2022, Lexington (KY) Douglass
2021 Stats: 16 solo tackles, 6 assisted tackles, 1 TFL
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.6 rating
Mike Harris, 5-10, 170, Sophomore in 2022, Phenix City (AL) Central
2021 Stats: Recorded no stats
Recruiting: Was a 3-star prospect with a 5.6 rating
Devin Lemear, 6-0, 170, Redshirt Freshman in 2022 (played in minimum 4 games), Manor
2021 Stats: 2 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Recruiting: Was a 3-star recruit with a 5.5 rating
Cisco Caston, 6-2, 195, Redshirt Freshman in 2022, Weatherford
2021 Stats: Recorded no stats
Recruiting: Was a 3-star recruit with a 5.6 rating
Also on the roster: Colby Daleshaw (6-0, 194, Walk On, Frisco Wakeland), Collin Losack (5-10, 180, Walk On, Colleyville Heritage)
2022 Signees: Devyn Bobby, DeSoto (arrived in January), Corey Gordon, Putnam City (OK) West (arrives in June), Alfonzo Allen, Miami Central (arrived in January), Jeremy Evans, Tenaha (arrives in June)
A look back to 2021
Baylor’s ball hawking secondary did everything to live up to that reputation. Pitre and Woods had defensive scores. Woods had two interceptions in the Sugar Bowl win over Ole Miss to give him six for the season.
Pitre earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and collected five total turnovers between two interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Those two participated in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis March 3-7.
Without question, the secondary that had high expectations coming into 2021 did not disappoint.
Biggest Question in Spring
Who is going to play the Star? When you have a person of Pitre’s caliber moving on, that’s a sizeable hole to replace.
The Star’s position is invaluable because in this constant nickel package, he is going to be asked to be a jack-of-all-trades between run support, blitzing and dropping back into pass coverage. His instincts need to be at another level because it requires him to read tendencies faster.
Baylor will have a couple of candidates to evaluate in this role. It could be Johnson. It could be Neal. When Evans was recruited, he said that Baylor liked him in this role. However, it may be a little early for him since he doesn’t arrive in the summer, is coming from a small school in Texas and needs to make the adjustment to P5 football.
One guy
Back to Johnson. Remember, he was committed to LSU while Aranda was the defensive coordinator and then decommitted.
As he was looking for a new place to land, he and Aranda connected again in the summer of 2020. He signed and arrived in August. Naturally, he redshirted. But as the 2021 season unfolded, his athleticism and work habits reached a point to where the coaches used him quite a bit down the stretch.
Johnson saw time in both the Big 12 championship game and the Sugar Bowl. There’s a lot to like about him. He has a chance to be a breakout performer.
Early Forecast
Since Morgan announced in January he is returning, he should be in good shape to keep one of the safety positions. He's the elder statesman of this group. His leadership will be important. That doesn’t mean he should be complacent.
Then it comes down to the Star and the other safety spot. For however Aranda, Wheat and Roberts see this, Johnson and the Devins duo (Lemear and Neal) should have the edge over the rest of the candidates to become starters and earn the bulk of the playing time.
Depth may be a question for now. However, the fact that both Bobby and Allen are on campus and going through spring will be important. Their rapid growth could create some confidence that it won’t be that much of a concern by the time fall camp starts.
