Dave Aranda's 3 Biggest Priorities for Baylor After NFL Draft

With three players leaving to be drafted, over 32 departures to the transfer portal, and nine senior graduates. We look at three key priorities Dave Aranda should look into for the upcoming season.

Major positions such as leading quarterback Sawyer Robertson, Baylor's top rusher Bryson Washington, transferring to Auburn, and defensive captain Keaton Thomas heading to Ole Miss.

Huge Transfer Overhaul

Unfortunately, Baylor had a very rough transfer portal, even though they've gotten some great talent, like former Indiana defensive lineman Hosea Wheeler, top-five recruit quarterback in D.J Lagway, and Garrick Ponder from Southern Miss, who was one of the top linebackers in the portal this year.

Fans and staff are hoping that the major rebuild on defense and the addition of offensive weapons will help Baylor head into next season with D.J Lagway taking over as captain of the offense. The biggest question is, can he be what Robertson was last year? Even if he can do close to Sawyer's numbers with the new defense they have, we should look forward to a more positive-looking season.

Re-establishing a Strong Defensive Unit

I think a major priority should be to get back a defensive unit that teams fear. Baylor has given up far too many points and yards in the past few years, and it's affected their record dramatically. Aranda made many adjustments to the defense this past year, including a new coordinator, Joe Klanderman from Kansas State, a new defensive line coach, and an almost complete newly faced defensive line. And notable secondary players like Daniel Cobbs, who follows Klanderman to Waco, and Ohio State corner Calvin Simpson-Hunt — who looks to rebound after not seeing the field much last year.

Baylor looks to have a full rebuild on the defense this year, and honestly, it needed it after giving up over 25 points a game since 2022. A once-strong, established defense that held opponents to 18 points in 2021, can the Bears find a way to get back to the elite unit they used to be known for?

Getting Lagway Comfortable Before Season Starts

Newcomer quarterback DJ Lagway is definitely up for a challenge going into this year. Almost a completely rebuilt team, offensively and defensively. Other than his one teammate, tight end Tony Livingston, joining him from Florida, Lagway is going to learn a lot about these new players before the regular season begins.

Giving a quarterback this challenge, after not really having the best year prevouisly, could really affect Lagways ' career. Whether Baylor comes out with a strong offense right away, or it takes them the first two to three games to find their rhythm. I think Lagway is going to take this challenge head-on and get a fresh start.

Add us as a preferred source on Google