Five best college football futures bets to make, including our Syracuse Orange, who return 80% of their starters this season. And it wont get too much easier in the second half. Daniel Green has been among the Big 12s best linebackers when healthy, and hell try to shore up a defense that ranks 94th in returning production, but was sprinkling through some of the younger players over the course of the season. On the line, starters at four positions return: left tackle Connor Galvin, center Jacob Gall, right guard Grant Miller and both right tackles, Khalil Keith and Gavin Byers. Developing some receivers. Much like Morgan, he is stepping into an expanded role. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. With the heartbreak kid gone, Morgan has a great chance to shine in the spotlight as one of Baylors best defensive players. That includes competition for incumbent quarterback Blake Shapen and likely plug-and-play starters on the offensive line for the Bears. Hes a graduate of BGSU and works as an auditor for Google content curation products. Copyright 2017-22 Heartland College Sports. 6 overall recruiting class, ranking in the top 10 both in incoming high school and junior college talent (fourth) and in 247Sports transfer class rankings (eighth). To replace receivers coach Chansi Stuckey, who joined Marcus Freemans staff at Notre Dame, Aranda hired former Buffalo and Marshall receivers coach Dallas Baker. The biggest reason to propel the Bears down these rankings is that Baylor ranks 100th nationally in returning production, third-to-last in the Big 12. Each team's returning starter count comes from Athlon's look at the conference. The 2022 Georgia Bulldogs will be replacing a lot of experience on both sides of the ball especially on defense. Heres the thing on the Red Raiders: Like TCU, the Red Raiders were undefeated in one-score games in the regular season. Powered by Capitol Presence & Olympus Cloud. Newman-Johnson will play in the 2022 East-West Shrine Bowl in February and should have his name called at the 2022 NFL Draft in April. The good news? That could make picking the 14-team Big 12 an absolute madhouse with so many variables. Grimes said Sims has improved as a blocker and Drake Dabney as a receiver. But Texas Tech also just couldnt get healthy quarterback play with some downright awful injury luck at the position.
The 2021 Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year eats up two-to-three blocks and plugs up running lanes, giving the rest of the Baylor defense lots of flexibility and reduced stress. The Waller native is set for another huge year, playing alongside some of the nations best D-lineman, who are good candidates to be on this list. Another key defensive position to fill is the star, Baylors hybrid nickelback/outside linebacker role, previously occupied by 2021 Big 12 defensive player of the year and second-round pick Pitre. Wheat joined the Nevada staff in 2020, coaching safeties before shifting to linebackers in 2021. The slinger has proven he has an elite arm, and if the cards fall right, he is a legitimate contender for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. The challenge for Texas wont be physicality. March 1, 2023 12:56 pm CT. College football writers are taking notice of the Longhorns loaded returning roster. Aranda called Player a twitchy and instinctive playmaker who creates havoc. After a 2-7 debut during a season impacted by COVID-19, the head coach pulled his team together to win the Big 12 for the first time since 2014, going 12-2 with a victory in the Sugar Bowl to cap things off. In that regard, the Big 12 is a league in transition. Texas has a real opportunity to hold down this unit if theyre assignment sound and the corner opposite Ryan Watts comes to play. And while we dont think Cincinnati will be bad, the Bearcats rank last in the league in returning production, coming in at No. He joins an elite group of established, veteran O-lineman that are hoping to pound the rock en route to another successful season. The Bears enter the season ranked No. Baylor ranked 10th in the country and first in the Big 12 in rushing offense in 2021, averaging 219.3 yards per game, leading the way to a Big 12 Championship. Some of those bounces are likely to go the Sooners way this season, which could mean improvement in the win column just by being less unlucky. Returning that kind of experience should give Baylor the best offensive line in the Big 12, and possibly the country, in 2022. Starters Gabe By Michael Haag. Will that lead to more wins? Remaining steady in the trenches should be a big help to the offense. This makes the Bears Those returning starters include seven on offense and seven on defense, and while the Bears will be looking to replace some fairly irreplaceable players, Baylor 1 and in charge of moving the Bears forward on offense. Devin Neal, who played 13 games last year, is also in the hunt. Baylor will contend for the Big 12 again this year. Hes an athletic and ridiculously strong 0-tech NT thats very light on his feet for his size. Injuries certainly played a part, but the offseason attrition was also worrisome. Besides Alabama or Georgia, I dont know whos got a better front scheme-wise than Baylor.. Baylor Football: 2022 Bears Season Preview and Prediction Athlon Sports Jun 7, 2022 Blake Shapen and the Bears are ranked No. Studying what Oklahoma and Kansas State did to them will be instructive. If that offense can jell and the defense can take a step forward, the Red Raiders could surprise. On the move! However, this years group will have some major absences to contend with, including Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jalen Pitre and All-Big-12 first-team linebacker selection Terrel Bernard. So though some may expect a return to the Big 12 title game, Aranda is zeroing in on how his team acts in these summer months. We know. A number of transfers doesnt hurt either. Its another to go from being a strength to being leaders. The clearest strength of the Baylor offense is an OL that represents the 2nd most seasoned unit in college football. They can probably look at the 20-13 Norristown loss where the Eagles made a goal line stand and a few kneel-downs to pull off the upset as a turning point, If Shapen can take the passing game to another level, that adds another dimension to an already good team. Qualan Jones, a fourth-year junior, hasnt seen many carries but is among the options. We looked at not just the numbers for each team, but breakdowns on each side of the ball and whether teams return starters at the most important positions on the football field as well. Almost a third of the league has less than 10 returning starters, and seven of the Big 12's teams have 12 or fewer. Collins joined the Baylor staff in 2020 and spent three seasons with Aranda at LSU. 14. That makes for a wide open race where it seems like the 12 teams that don't reach the Big 12 championship game are likely to finish somewhere between 8-4 and 4-8, decided by a bounce here or there. 2005-2023 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. But expecting TCU to reach the Big 12 title game again might be too much. However, they look to have a spectacular shot at doing so in 2022. 8 national ranking last fall and has Pac-12 title and CFP aspirations in 2023. Seth Jones, another sophomore, is up to nearly 200 pounds after being recruited at 180. (Top photo of Dave Aranda: Stephen Lew / USA Today). The school president and athletic director each signed 10-year extensions. But West Virginia also ranks 89th in returning offensive production nationally, and doesnt really make up for it on the defensive side, where the Mountaineers are 49th. This year it could be the playoff by avoiding another loss like that pesky one against TCU. The defense was stifling and the offense pounded the rock as the Bears worked their way through the Big 12 slate and took down ranked BYU. Were winning every day. No one is going to underestimate the Bears this time around and that could mean dropping unexpected games en route to a 7-5 record. With Texas and Oklahoma moving their Big 12 ousters to 2024 rather than 2025, this season will mark the only one that includes the two departing conference schools along with the four new additions: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. I really felt we saw a different side of him, Grimes said. Its a big gamble, the second coach said. Galvin was an All-Big-12 first-teamer with All-American mentions to his name last season. Will the unproven receivers step up? 70 nationally), the players that the Cougars replace departures with are often older and more physically ready to step in than the traditional redshirt freshman or sophomore. The No. Get the fastest scores, stats, news, LIVE videos, and more. Somebody has to be last. Get the fastest scores, stats, news, LIVE videos, and more. The Bears brought in two scholarship players thus far, both in the defensive front seven: Player and White. UW, of course, finished an 11-2 season with a No. For there to be an ascent, there has to be a descent first. The Buffs have just five returning starters on defense, and their offensive line still isnt ready to compete with the top programs in the Pac-12, let alone the entire country. And they found some young pieces along the way, adding a few pretty good transfers as well. Preseason prognosticators that looked at 14 returning starters and picked the Bears to win the league are being punished for not understanding that Baylor losing six players to the NFL Draft 4 of them in the first first 3 rounds isnt something that can be replaced. Editors note:This ispart of a seriespreviewing Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams for the 2022 college football season. Morgan, the one returning starter in the group, will be deployed either at safety or star, depending on need. With a solid crop of returning players, the question will be whether that talent can start delivering results on the field. Hunter Dekkers is the likely Brock Purdy replacement, and he has some interesting traits to build around. The 2019 class, which ranked 35th, has nine of the 24 signees still with the team, but the retention rates in 2020 (17 of the 18 signees are still with Baylor) and 2021 (16 of 17) are superb. Whoever wins the quarterback job out of Tyler Shough and Donovan Smith has both starting experience and a high ceiling. This team went 2-3 in one-score games in the regular season; getting another win or two this year certainly wouldnt be a shock. Aranda recruited the 2020 four-star prospect while with the Tigers but left for Baylor before getting a chance to coach him. But Baylor also brings in 247Sports No. How the star shakes out will impact the rest of the secondary. Likely this will be another year like last year: West Virginia has the talent to sneak up and bite somebody, but might not have the consistent week-in, week-out results. A big physical front headlined by plus size nose tackle Siaki Ika isnt designed to compile stats, but to dominate the interior line of scrimmage and force runners to either collide into an interior wall or bounce wide on a rounded angle that allows easy clean up. There are certainly unknowns. The Bears are allowing offenses to convert a healthy 45.4% of their 3rd downs this season and that simply doesnt marry well to Arandas larger philosophy. The ranking takes a look at data on both sides of the football for all FBS teams in the country. This is a let it hang out game and Sark and PK should expect Dave Aranda to go for it on 4th down until Texas punishes them for it. But he questions the quarterback depth. (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports). You can learn more about Pete by visiting his personal website: PeteMundo.com. Hes a graduate of BGSU and works as an auditor for Google content curation products. Its worth noting that while Baylor started the year rock-ribbed against the run with their massive interior Tite front, theyve surrendered 179 yards per game rushing over their last three games. The Cyclones starter count includes five on offense and three on defense, with the former group including a new starter at quarterback. Can Iowa State replace Xavier Hutchinson, who seemed like the offenses only option at times last year? There are also five transfers combined from those two cycles still around. It resulted in nine 100-yard performances and 1,621 rushing yards, the most in Baylor history. 3 overall class (including both high school talent and the Longhorns smaller transfer class), Texas should get some increased firepower on both sides of the ball. Baylor football is riding high after the program attained its first 12-win season, highlighted by a Big 12 Championship and Sugar Bowl win. With nine offensive returning starters and eight defensive returning starters and Lance Leipold getting his first spring with the team after signing on after spring ball last year, the Jayhawks should have significantly better understanding of the teams system and what it takes to compete in the Big 12. Posted on January 10, 2022. Powledge, a Huntsville, Texas, native who played fullback at Sam Houston, is also back in his Texas roots. Its one thing to go from being a weakness to a strength, Grimes said. Theyre certainly at their best running free on play action shots. SHARE If BYU football players, coaches were stocks, who would you buy? Run blocking has improved, Aranda said. That has turned each team's returning starter count into one of the most panned metrics heading into a given season. 2021 stats: 91 tackles (second most), 8.5 TFL (second most), scored two offensive TDs (rushing and receiving). before going out with a concussion. Defensively, Kansas brings back most of its pieces on the back end, but will need to hope a transfer class of defensive linemen can hit the ground running if the Jayhawks are to make major (and much-needed) improvements on that side of the ball. Breakdown: Gabe Hall has come up in recent news as being one of college footballs top freak athletes, and its true. Aranda said Baker has done wonders with the receiving corps and called it probably the most improved group of the spring. The next group of schools Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, and TCU lost two starters. But when looking at what most Big 12 teams lose and the Longhorns ranking second in the conference in returning production (according to ESPNs Bill Connellys measurements), a Texas team that finished a game out of the Big 12 Championship Game probably makes for the best bet. In run blocking in 2020, the Bears averaged 1.4 yards per rush before first contact, which was last in the Big 12 and 111th in the FBS. 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