Baylor's top sack leader enters transfer portal

Things keep getting worse for Baylor.

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It's been a mass exodus for Baylor since the transfer portal opened. Most of it has come from the defensive side of the ball. Most recently, starting edge rusher Emar'rion Winston entered his name into the portal after one season in Waco.

Winston came to Baylor this past offseason after starting his career in Oregon. In his lone season with Baylor, Winston recorded 25 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, and led the Bears' defense with three sacks.

RELATED: Baylor transfer portal tracker: Every player coming in and out of the program in 2026

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Winston started every game for Baylor and played a total of 586 snaps on defense. According to Pro Football Focus, Winston had a 65.7 defensive grade, a 65.2 run stopping grade, and a 66.6 pass rushing grade. The former Duck had the fifth-best pass rushing grade on the team this season.

While he played one season with Baylor, he played three for Oregon. During his three seasons in Eugene, Winston recorded 27 tackles and didn't record a sack.

Baylor's defensive line is no more

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Most of the Baylor defensive line is gone to either graduation or the transfer portal. The starting edge rushers, Winston and Matthew Fobbs-White are both in the portal. So is Baylor's star freshman edge rusher Kamauryn Morgan. As far as the interior goes, Jackie Marshall and Cooper Lanz graduated, and DK Kalu -- who played a good amount in 2025 -- is in the portal.

Both Joe Klanderman and Dave Aranda talked about building Baylor up through the transfer portal and that's exactly what they are going to have to do. The Bears have lost a ton of talent and, so far, Baylor has one commitment from the portal and that's an offensive lineman.

Dave Aranda was retained for several reasons, but retaining the roster was one key component. So far, not only is Aranda not retaining the roster, but he lost several key players from Baylor's recruiting class. The Bears once had a top-25 class, but after losing Jamarion Carlton, Jamarion Vincent, and Jordan Clay, among others -- the Bears slipped.

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