Big 12 Preview: Baylor Bears
July 2nd, 2008 by James Lawrence
Since Baylor is the annual holder of the bottom position of the Big 12 South, I figured I’d start this preview from the bottom and work my way up.
Baylor will finish 1-11 by virtue of a 13-12 victory over Northwestern State, as the Demons curse themselves for missing both PATs .
Tim Tebow will have both more rushing yards and more passing yards than their entire offense. Seriously, why are you reading this? Have you won your fantasy league each of the last seven seasons, and drafting somebody from Baylor is part of your handicap?
Oh yeah, Phil Steele rates Baylor as having the #7 hardest schedule in the country. It just keeps getting better in Waco…
Baylor’s defense tries to get off the field quickly by allowing the other team to score in as few plays as possible. This will probably work well when they face Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Missouri, Texas, and Texas Tech. On the plus side, David Gettis got 34 kickoff returns in 2007 and that translated into 763 yards and a TD. Decent returner + horrible defense = good stats.
Baylor’s freshman kicker Ben Parks figures to get about 10 PAT attempts and the same number of field goal attempts – half of which will be blocked when the line lets 6 people through.
Baylor is very experienced at the wide receiver position, as each of their three leading receivers returns in 2008. Last season, Thomas White lead the group with 475 yards and 8 TDs . Perhaps I’ve said enough? It is worth mentioning that David Gettis had 401 receiving yards to go along with being the kick returner for the punching bags of the Big 12. If individual KR yards are a part of your fantasy stats, he could be worth a look. (I played in a ridiculous NFL fantasy league where Josh Cribbs put up more points than Randy Moss last season. Moral of the story: watch for that stuff.)
Unfortunately, Baylor loses their leading running back, Brandon Whitaker, going into 2008. It’s going to be tough to replace his 488 yards and 2 TDs , as the rest of the RBs combined for about 420 yards and 2 TDs . Perhaps I’ve said enough? Oh yeah, somebody will start for Baylor. Maybe it’ll be Jacoby Jones , unless it’s somebody else.
Wealth is abound at the QB position in Baylor, as Kirby Freeman has transferred in from Miami. Imagine that, a Miami Hurricanes backup quarterback. If this was the late 80s, that’d be awesome! Fear not, Bears faithful, last season’s starter Blake Szymanski returns hoping to even out that 22-18 ratio he threw last season. Or could the starter be incoming freshman Robert Griffin ?
My only prediction here is complete disaster.
Baylor is actually coached by wild boars, but to appease the fans, every few years they name somebody else the new puppet coach. This year that man is Art Briles , who has in fact never lost a game coaching at Baylor and figures to remain unbeaten until at least August 30.
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