Baylor will get one key piece back when the season opens against Auburn: Dawson Pendergrass is healthy again after spending last year on the sideline with a foot injury that required surgery and rehab.
That return matters because Baylor spent the entire season without the back who had been positioned as part of a potential one-two punch. Instead, the Bears leaned on Bryson Washington and Caden Knighten, with Michael Turner and Joseph Dodds also helping to carry the load in smaller roles. The ripple effect was obvious all year, especially with Washington a sophomore and Turner, Knighten and Dodds all freshmen at the time.
The bad news from camp came at receiver. Taz Williams Jr. suffered a collar bone injury in practice, leaving Baylor with another early-season setback before a snap has been played.
“He’s gonna have surgery on it, and he’ll be back in a couple of weeks, " Coach Aranda said when speaking to the media on August 21st, and would continue, "He went up for a pass and fell down on his collarbone and broke it.”
No official return date has been given for Williams Jr., though he is expected to get back into pads and a helmet this season. Collarbone injuries can vary widely, and the timeline can run from about six weeks to as long as three months depending on the severity.
Aranda’s comment about a return “in just a couple of weeks” may be optimism, or it may simply be the kind of upbeat answer coaches tend to give after practice. Either way, the exact game Williams Jr. might come back for is impossible to pin down right now.
The timing is especially frustrating because Williams Jr. was one of the few returning pieces in Baylor’s receiving room. He wasn’t expected to open the season as a starter, with Gavin Freeman, Dre'lon Miller, Louis Brown IV and Jadon Porter looking locked into those roles. Still, Williams Jr. and freshman London Smith were set up to be useful rotating options on the perimeter and add depth that opponents would have to respect.
For Baylor, the takeaway is simple: Pendergrass is back, but the Bears still took a hit before Week 1. Williams Jr.’s injury is nobody’s fault, just another reminder that a healthy roster rarely lasts all the way to opening day.
In Other News...
Caden Knighten Could Be Baylor's Most Dangerous Backfield X-Factor
Caden Knighten arrived at Baylor with the kind of speed that always makes a backfield interesting, and he has already shown he can do more than just sprint past defenders. A former Oklahoma 2-A 100-meter state champion in 2023, Knighten carved out a role last season while sharing touches with Bryson Washington and Michael Turner, finishing with 104 carries for 469 yards and 11 catches for 134 yards, plus a rushing score and a receiving touchdown.
With Dawson Pendergrass healthy this season, Knighten is expected to stay in a reserve role, but that does not make him any less important to the Bears offensive picture. Baylors rushing outlook feels like it could hinge on how much explosiveness it gets from Knighten and the other backs around him, especially if the staff keeps finding ways to get him into space where his track speed can change a drive in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Just Strengthened A Recruiting Edge Fans Cant Ignore
Baylor is making another move to keep pace in the increasingly crowded NIL arms race, announcing a partnership with TheLinkU that will bring the companys revenue and NIL platform into the athletic department. The goal is straightforward enough: give Baylor student-athletes a more centralized system for managing opportunities, while also creating new ways for the program to grow revenue and deepen brand partnerships around the Bears.
The deal also adds some structure behind the scenes, with contract management and compliance workflows built into the platform, along with fan engagement experiences aimed at making the whole operation more visible and marketable. A new initiative called Link254 is part of the rollout, and the pitch to recruits is hard to miss, Baylor now has another tool to sell as it tries to stand out in a recruiting landscape where off-field opportunity matters almost as much as what happens on the field. [Read more 🡒]
These Baylor Players Could Decide Whether The Bears Matter Again
After a disappointing season, Baylors path back into relevance will likely come down to whether a handful of core pieces can raise the floor quickly enough. The Bears have reasons for optimism in returning talent and transfer help, but the biggest swing factors are still the same ones that usually decide whether a retool becomes a turnaround: steady quarterback play, a run game that can keep defenses honest, and enough disruption on defense to stop the weekly bleeding.
Dawson, DJ Lagway, Wheeler, Freeman and Kyland all sit near the center of that equation, each carrying a different kind of weight for a team trying to climb back into the conversation. Baylor does not need every question answered at once, but it does need some of these players to look like difference-makers rather than placeholders, and that is why this group feels so important heading into the year. [Read more 🡒]