Baylor wide receiver Gavin Freeman has been added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, another nod to the kind of start he’s put together through five games in 2026.
The announcement came Wednesday from the Tallahassee Quarterback Club. Freeman, a fifth-year receiver from Oklahoma City, has become the Bears’ go-to target early in the season, leading Baylor with 42 catches.
That total also puts him tied for second nationally. He’s piled up 479 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns, while going at least six catches and 47 yards in each of Baylor’s five games.
Freeman’s production has been steady, but the big-play moments have helped shape his season. He opened with career highs against Auburn, catching 12 passes for 154 yards.
That night included a key fourth-down grab and a touchdown that pulled Baylor within a point of the Tigers. He followed that with 10 catches for 104 yards in the home opener against Prairie View A&M.
He also found the end zone against Colorado, adding another breakout effort to a stretch that has turned heads in Waco. In Baylor’s most recent game at Arizona State, Freeman led the Bears with 115 receiving yards.
His style has made him hard to miss. Freeman’s fearless approach and knack for making defenders miss have already shown up in highlight-reel hurdles against Colorado and Arizona State, and he’s quickly become a fan favorite.
The Biletnikoff Award is given each year to the season’s most outstanding FBS receiver. Any player who catches a pass is eligible, regardless of position. A 625-member National Selection Committee made up of college football journalists, commentators, announcers, former Biletnikoff winners and other former receivers handles the semifinalist, finalist and winner selections.
Receivers are often added to the watch list as the season goes on, based on actual production rather than potential. Semifinalists will be announced Nov. 16, with finalists coming Nov.
- The winner will be revealed Dec. 11 during The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.
In Other News...
Baylors Backfield Strength Is Starting To Feel Like A Real Concern
Baylors backfield has quietly become one of the more interesting parts of its offense through the first five games, not because one runner has taken over, but because the staff keeps finding reasons to use multiple backs. Dawson Pendergrass has handled the most carries, while Ryelan Morris and Caden Knighten have both made their presence felt with explosive plays, including long touchdown runs. The approach fits an offense that has leaned almost evenly between the run and the pass, and it has helped the Bears keep bodies fresh as the season wears on.
The rotation has also been shaped by injuries and shifting roles, which makes the workload even less predictable from week to week. For Baylor, though, that uncertainty has mostly been a positive, since the depth in the backfield has given the offense a steady stream of options and big-play potential. The question now is whether that committee approach can keep producing in the same way once the schedule gets tougher and the wear and tear starts to matter more. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Enters Baylor Week With One Rivalry Pressure Point Looming
TCU heads into its bye week carrying a 2-3 record and an 0-2 start in Big 12 play, a disappointing position for a team that still has time to reset before the stretch run. The defense has held up well at times, but the offense has been hard to trust against Power Four competition, and the disconnect has fueled plenty of conversation about what might change when the Horned Frogs return to work.
A lot of that scrutiny will only grow once Baylor week arrives, because the next game looms as a rivalry test that can sharpen every question around the program. The coaching staff has options to consider on how it wants to handle the offense after the off week, and with pressure rising, how TCU answers on that side of the ball could shape the tone well beyond mid-October. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor's Strong Start Is Revealing One Big Team Strength
Five games into Baylors season, the clearest shift has been up front on defense, where the Bears are getting more consistent pressure and forcing offenses to deal with a front that looks far different than it did in August. An evaluation of the teams eight position groups shows how much has changed since preseason expectations, with the defensive line rising to the top while the wideouts and quarterbacks have also helped steady the offense through the early part of the year.
Elsewhere, the picture is more mixed. Baylor has seen encouraging signs from parts of the linebacking corps and its passing game, while the running backs and offensive line have dealt with their own growing pains and the ripple effects of injuries. For a team trying to sort out where it can lean week to week, the bigger takeaway is that the Bears may already have found one unit that can set the tone when the rest of the roster is still settling in. [Read more 🡒]