Baylor and HC Art Briles are in a tough position in 2013. Last season, the team posted a 10-3 record, and celebrated their first Heisman Trophy winner in Robert Griffin III. This no doubt got the fans excited, but with excited fans come increased expectations. Improving on last season would be a challenge in itself, but to do it with RG3 playing on Sundays, could be close to impossible.
Replacing the Heisman winner under center this season will be the guy who backed him up for the last few seasons, SR Nick Florence. Now Florence has been quite successful in the limited time he has gotten on field behind Griffin, including 62% completions, and 1800 yards in 7 starts back in 2010. But Florence is not Griffin. He may be a good passer, but he has none of the electricity of Griffin, and no doubt will represent a step down from a year ago. In addition to loosing Griffin, Baylor also loses RB Terrance Ganaway. Ganaway never got the publicity of some of the other top backs in the nation, but I really liked what he brought to the table. He was consistent and versatile. This year, the team will be looking to SO Lache Seastrunk to be the primary ball carrier. He is very fast (originally recruited to Oregon) but I am not sure he will have enough respect from opposing defenses to keep them honest, especially early on. At receiver, RG3's favorite target from a year ago, Kendall Wright, has also graduated to the NFL. In addition, Josh Gordon left the program too. This leaves SR Terrance Williams as the primary weapon, and JR Tevin Reese to have to step up his game to become a legit second option. Williams is the real deal though. I project him higher than his former teammate Wright from a year ago. Up front, the Bears have a nice interior o-line, featuring SR C Ivory Wade, SR OG Cameron Kaufhold and the guy who may prove to be the best of them all, JR OG Cyril Richardson. Each of these guys can get the job done, and I would expect them to crate nice running holes for Seastrunk to take advantage of.
Defensively, this team is more talented than the 10-3 group from a year ago. The defensive line has experience, even if they do lack star power. The three SRs who project as starters all should be better than a year ago, although I am not expecting any to be really dominant. At linebacker, JR OLB Ahmad Dixon is a very good player. I expect him to improve on the 89 tackles made in his SO campaign, and he could be in line for all-conference consideration by season end. The other guys from this unit will have to make names for themselves, as none currently projects very highly. The secondary, which was a weakness at times last year, is all back, and they project to be vastly improved. JR CB KJ Morton, and both safeties, JR Sam Holl and SR Mike Hicks all finished off last season on a strong note, and all project to improve upon last season's numbers. Each of these guys came into their own after being first time starters, and I expect their development to continue in 2013.
The Bears are still a good football team, but unfortunately I don't see them repeating last season's performance. Baylor had a rare talent in Griffin, and lost a lot when he left for the NFL. I expect Briles will be able to land more and more stud prospects now that he has shown what he can do with that kind of talent, so the future for Baylor football sure does look bright, but still I expect a downturn in 2013.
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