Fall camp is almost here, and Baylor enters it with more than a few things to sort out before the season gets rolling. With a pile of transfer additions expected to step into starting roles, what happens in August should go a long way toward shaping the tone around the program. There are real questions on both sides of the ball, and the staff needs answers on the field before it ever gets to Auburn in Week 1.
One of the biggest names to watch is receiver Dre'lon Miller. After a quiet year at Colorado, where he finished with 158 yards on 20 catches, Miller comes into Baylor still carrying the buzz that made him one of the most highly regarded wideouts in the 2024 class.
He ranked 17th in that group, behind names like Jeremiah Smith, Cam Coleman, and Ryan Wingo. Colorado’s 3-9 season kept him under the radar, but Baylor’s passer-friendly offense gives him a chance to show what he can really do.
Up front, Baylor’s line overhaul brings a couple of transfers into focus. Nate Kibble, a sophomore from Texas, arrives as the Bears’ top-ranked transfer on the line.
A three-star prospect, he appeared in only three games with the Longhorns and redshirted as a freshman. Baylor needs almost a full reset along the offensive front, and Kibble is looking for the bigger role and more snaps he couldn’t find in Austin.
Another lineman worth tracking is senior Yakiri Walker, who played in every game for Memphis last season and led the team in snaps. He was part of an offense that piled up one of the higher yardage totals in the nation, with Memphis ranking top 40 in almost every offensive category. Baylor is hoping Walker can bring that same kind of steadiness and help give Lagway the protection needed for the offense to stay explosive.
The defense also had to change, and it had to change fast. Allowing 35 points per game usually puts a staff on the clock, and Joe Klanderman has been brought in with a reputation for building hard-nosed defenses. Through the portal, he’s already added an upgraded secondary and some promising edge rushers.
Among those newcomers, South Carolina edge rusher Zavion Hardy stands out. He was the top JUCO transfer in the country and spent one year at South Carolina, though he only appeared in one game and did not record any stats. Even so, he looks like a player who could surprise people as a rotational piece for Baylor this season.
Hardy brings a big frame at 6'5, 285 pounds, along with the kind of twitch that makes him intriguing on the outside. He played plenty of inside tackle in junior college, but he’ll likely move to the edge because of his quick release and his ability to get out and help stop outside runs and quarterback scrambles.
In Other News...
Dave Aranda Just Issued A Blunt Warning About Baylors Reality
Dave Aranda spent the offseason talking about a college football reality that Baylor can no longer ignore: the sports financial ground keeps shifting under everyones feet. Between the transfer portal, NIL, and agents becoming part of the daily conversation, the Baylor coach said the gap between programs is widening, and some schools are operating with a hard limit on what they can spend while others are starting from a much different place.
For Baylor, that backdrop matters even more with a season opener against Auburn in the Aflac Kickoff Game. The matchup is a reminder that the Bears are trying to compete in a landscape where money, exposure and roster building are all tied together, and where the first weekend can already feel like a snapshot of how uneven the sport has become. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Entering A Season That Could Change Everything Again
Baylors recent standard was set in a hurry under Dave Aranda, when the Bears climbed to a Big 12 title and a Sugar Bowl win in 2021. Since then, the program has been trying to find its way back to that level, and the gap between what Baylor once looked like and what it has been lately is a big reason this next season carries so much weight around Waco.
The pressure is not just about winning more games, it is about whether Baylor can look like a team capable of pushing toward the top of the league again. If the Bears settle into the middle of the Big 12 instead of contending near the front, the conversation around the program could shift quickly, with the kind of scrutiny that tends to follow a team that has already shown it can reach much higher. [Read more 🡒]