Since the Briles scandal, I have seen a bunch of Baylor fans predict a recovery in 2-3 years. Additionally, I have seen stories predicting that they will win 9-10 games this year. I did a little research on their football team and the players they have lost since last year. Here are some of the more important players they have lost due to graduation, draft, transfer, or dismissal:
- Corey Coleman (NFL)
- Jarrett Stidham (Transfer)
- Andrew Billings (NFL)
- Shawn Oakman (Graduation)
- Spencer Drango (NFL)
- Chris Johnson (Transfer)
- Xavien Howard (NFL)
- Jay Lee (NFL)
- Devin Chafin (Dismissed)
- Grant Campbell (Graduation)
- Jamal Palmer (Graduation)
- Beau Blackshear (Graduation)
- Gus Penning (Graduation)
- UPDATED: Rami Hammad (Dismissed)
- UPDATED: Ishmael Zamora (Pending Disciplinary Action: Animal Cruelty)
Injury UPDATES (8/16/2016):
- RB Johnny Jefferson - (Foot injury during practice. Rib injury in car accident. Will miss at least a few games. "Out for a while" -HC Jim Grobe)
- Senior DT Byron Bonds - (Knee Injury has not practiced in preseason camp. May miss entire season.)
They have 2 commits for their 2017 recruiting class. Their 2016 class has gone from 22 to 10. With the loss of Stidham, they have 29 total recruits between the 2015, 2016, and 2017 classes.
This year their OL has 27 returning starts, compared with 106 last year. 26 of their 27 starts come from just one player, Center Kyle Fuller. According to what I have read, they will be using JUCO players and Walk-ons to supplement their OL (and maybe even start). Their running backs are the strength of the team, but this will hurt them significantly.
Baylor also has a significant lack of experience at Wide Receiver. Yes, KD Cannon is impressive, but who else do they have? They will possibly be losing Ishmael Zamora who was going to play a large role in their receiving core. If Zamora is dismissed, their next 3 top WRs have a combined 483 receiving yards.... in their CAREERS. Outside of Cannon, their #2 returning receiver had 155 yards last year(and the vast majority of his yards came against SMU, Iowa State, and Kansas) Compare that with Tech, who returns 9 players with 155 receiving yards or more from last year (then add in Cantrell who had 312 yards in 2014).
I am not sold on Seth Russell either. Yes, his numbers look amazing, but the competition he has faced is still questionable. I mean SMU, Kansas, Rice, Iowa State, Tech, these aren't exactly defensive powerhouses.
The most obvious loss is Briles himself. He won 77% of the games he coached in his last 5 years. Grobe won 37% in his last 5 years of coaching.
They may win 8-9 games this year, but if any one of their star athletes get significantly injured (Russell, Linwood, Jefferson, or KD Cannon), they could easily fall apart.
If the Leach/Tuberville transition is any gauge, I would say it'll take 6-7 years to steady their ship, even if they make all the right coaching hires. However, with the payout they have to make to Briles, they probably can't afford a big name hire. I can't imagine a bunch of coaches want to jump in the middle of this situation either.
Here is hoping we can make some inroads while they are down, since they did the same to Tech when we were down.
