Their biggest question mark is in the receiving room, as four of the top five are no longer on the roster, with the lone exception being preseason All-Big 12 TE Ben Sims. LT Connor Galvin and C Jacob Gall both earned First Team All-Big 12 recognition and form the backbone of the highly regarded unit. They’ll be running behind a rugged offensive line that returns four starters and 119 career starts while harboring legitimate Joe Moore Award aspirations as Phil Steele’s seventh rated offensive line in the country. McWilliams will likely assume the lead between the tackles role after dazzling in limited action, rushing 17 times for 181 yards, two touchdowns and a gaudy 10.6 yards per carry average. They graduate a pair of NFL hopefuls at running back as the aforementioned Abram Smith and all-purpose weapon Trestan Ebner depart with a similar duo slated to split duties in Taye McWilliams (6’1/211) and Craig “Sqwirl” Williams (5’8/173). Shapen posted almost identical play action/non-play action splits in the 70-73 passing grade range during his limited work last season and carved up Oklahoma State’s top-5 overall defense to the tune of 23-for-29, 180 passing yards and a 3-to-0 ratio while hitting his first 17 passes and earning the Big 12 Championship MVP Award. This year OC Grimes will have a promising pro-style QB in Blake Shapen in place to lead the way. Similarly Bohanon posted an 86.7 passing grade with play action as opposed to a 60.7 grade without that play calling crutch. It’s important to keep in mind that Baylor achieved this improvement with a scheme-limited quarterback in Gerry Bohanon who wilted under pressure, going from a strong 86.9 PFF passing grade when kept clean down to a 42.9 grade when hassled. OC Grimes vaulted their overall production from 23.3 PPG (100th) and 310 YPG (118th) in 2020 to 31.6 PPG (40th) and 422 YPG (52nd) in 2021. Their impotent ground game improved drastically, going from 90 rushing yards in 2020 to 219 behind converted linebacker Abram Smith and a power run game that literally doubled their yards per carry output from 2.7-to-5.4. HC Aranda mercifully fired OC Larry Fedora and brought in the architect of BYU’s high powered offense that launched Zach Wilson to the number two overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, OC Jeff Grimes. The result was a lackluster 2020 season where the Bears posted a lowly 2-7 record while accruing just 23 points to go with a meager 310 total yards and 90 rushing yards per game. Two years ago former LSU DC Dave Aranda took over for Matt Rhule and was promptly hit with a pandemic that kept him from holding spring practices. Offensive Returning Production = 37% (124th)ĭefensive Returning Production = 62% (70th)Ģ47Sports Avg.
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