ESPN Way Too Low on Baylor Football in Big 12 Offseason Winners List

The Bears had a better offseason than that.

Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Talk about a hard reset.

After a 5-7 season, Baylor lost 32 players to the transfer portal, including starting linebacker Keaton Thomas, running back Bryson Washington, and center Coleton Price, among others. With losing so many players, the Bears had to retool their roster and Baylor landed 31 players from the transfer portal.

When you land 31 players, you're bound to land a few players who could make a big impact on your team. For starters, former five-star gunslinger DJ Lagway is in Waco, leading the offense. Baylor landed him a pair of talented wide receivers like Gavin Freeman and Dre'lon Miller.

Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman wanted some attackers along the defensive line, and guys like Ryan Davis and Garrick Ponder are expected to take on a big role this season.

Where ESPN ranked Baylor

Despite bringing in a load of talent, Baylor isn't getting much respect from the national level.

ESPN recently ranked every Big 12 school on if they won the offseason or not. Out of the 16 Big 12 programs, Baylor was ranked 11th.

What went wrong, according to ESPN? The loss of so much production. The Bears will trot out almost an entirely new starting lineup on both sides of the football, and the additional loss of star kicker Connor Hawkins to Ohio State didn't help things. Losing some safety depth in Carl Williams and DJ Coleman didn't help Baylor.

But what went right for the Bears?

Landing the former top-five player for starters. Lagway struggled in Florida, battling injuries and having a coaching staff squarely on the hot seat. He's going to have that in Baylor, too, with Dave Aranda being on the hot seat, but the Gators are must-see TV every week and Lagway won't have the pressure as he had in Florida.

Plus, after having one of the worst defenses in college football a year ago, the Bears went out and spent some money on the unit. With Klanderman calling plays, he is going to utilize his attacking nature to wreak havoc. Adding national champion Hosea Wheeler is also big — assuming he's eligible.

The last thing that went right for Baylor, as most fans can agree, is adding Klanderman — which makes Aranda back to being the head coach. He was trying to juggle too many things calling the defense and managing the game. Now, Aranda can breathe and just manage the game without overthinking the defense.

While Baylor has a lot to prove on the football field, it feels like the Bears made better moves than they are being credited for.