Inside The Bears

Power ranking the top 10 football players in Big 12 going into the 2025 season

Listing out the conference's best ten players regardless of position, plus five more who almost cracked the list

Josh Crawford

Baylor RB Bryson Washington was the only Bear to crack the top 10 power rankings
Baylor RB Bryson Washington was the only Bear to crack the top 10 power rankings / Via: Baylor Athletics
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Heading into the 2025 season, here are, in our opinion, the top 10 players in the Big 12 Conference.

1. Sam Leavitt, QB, Arizona State

I’m not going to go too crazy in-depth on analyzing Leavitt here, since I already covered it here in my power rankings of the top 10 Big 12 QBs going into the season, with Leavitt also topping that list. Preseason conference player of the year, the best player on the reigning conference champions, the argument for #1 doesn’t get much stronger than that. In watching back Leavitt’s 2024 tape, he’s undoubtedly the most fun guy on this list who’s worth the price of admission every time — an unflappable gunslinger who’s unfazed by pocket pressure, someone who causes you to hold your breath when he breaks the pocket with his elusiveness and gutty running style. To raise his level of play in the two biggest games of his career so far, as a freshman, with his main target unavailable, he’s getting plenty of preseason buzz, and it still may not be enough.

2. Spencer Fano, OT, Utah

As a former defensive lineman, I’ve got to give the big uglies up front their just due, Arguably the best tackle in college football last season, and definitely the best returning, Fano’s 92.7 PFF grade lead all FBS tackles last year, and after an AP All-American second team selection last year, and a Walter Camp preseason first-time nomination, Fano has the looks and accolades of a first round tackle. Not an elite pass protector yet, he has devastating power in the run game, consistently puts guys on their back in Utah’s zone-running scheme, and displays a nasty streak that epitomises how Kyle Whittingham likes football to be played. Not just your traditional road grading right tackle, he comes in just a tick over 300 pounds, with nimble feet and flexible hips that allow him to easily get to the second level and get around on pulls. Not a stretch at all to potentially see a team take him top 30 next year and immediately flip him to protecting their QB’s blindside.

3. Jordan Tyson, WR, Arizona State

If Tyson is healthy last postseason, I believe the Sun Devils knock off the Longhorns in their playoff matchup. An AP All-American third-teamer last year, the 2024 Big 12 offensive newcomer of the year looks to be at or near the top of all WR1 conversations for this 2026 draft class. At 6’1, there were plenty of moments when Tyson’s vertical pop and jump ball ability made Leavitt look like a star, with his spatial awareness, hands, and agility near the sidelines giving him a 50/50 chance even if he's completely draped by a defender. And yet, he’s just as comfortable working in the middle of the field, being able to create separation with his route-running, and consistently making defenders miss in open space like an oversized, superturbo slot. He does everything you can want from a modern receiver, and with elite production, elite athlete genes (his brother Jalyn, was a standout wing on the basketball team at Cal and a 1st round pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers), Tyson should be a serious contender to win the Bilitenikoff this year, and I can't see a scenario that isn’t injury related where he gets out of the first round next April.

4. Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech

So yeah, all those guys that Cam Skattebo ran through in the Big 12 last year? Rodriguez set the tone in his matchup against the New York Giant draftee in the Red Raiders’ matchup vs. Arizona State, completely bulldozing through him on an outside zone play for a TFL early in the second quarter.

A throwback smash mouth inside linebacker that plays sideline-to-sidelines, the Big 12 preseason defensive player of the year has the speed to shoot gaps, the football IQ to quickly diagnose run schemes, and the strength to play through tackles and guards. 127 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, 5 sacks, and 6 turnovers, there wasn’t a linebacker in college football matching that productions  He doesn’t have the athletic traits of 2025 1st rounder Jihad Campbell or even former Big 12 backer Nick Martin, but his nose for the football and ability to create chaos and turnovers, reminds me of another former Big 12 linebacker with the same last name — current Detroit Lion Malcolm Rodriguez. Don’t know where he’ll get drafted, but he makes any defense he’s a part of, immediately better.

5. Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah

So, remember how I just said Spencer Fano, Lomu’s teammate, was potentially the best tackle in college football this season? Well, Kyle Whittingham designated a freshman to protect Cam Rising’s (and eventually Issac Wilson’s) blindside instead of flipping his All-American tackle to the left side. This kid is special. Barely tipping the scales at 300 pounds, Lomu combines elite movement with a level of technical expertise and playing experience that, even as a redshirt sophomore, should land him as a top-60 draft pick next year. A mid-season freshman All-American pick by The Athletic, Lomu surrendered just two sacks in 425 pass blocking reps. He immediately recognizes defensive line stunts and pre-snap blitzes with his high football IQ, and unless you're going to bull rush straight through his (relatively) light frame, there’s not a college pass rusher that has an answer for him. If he can get stronger and become better in the run game, I think we’re looking at a plug-and-play starting left tackle in the NFL, in the vein of a Charles Cross or Christian Darrisaw.

6. Bryson Washington, RB, Baylor

After playing 3 games and redshirting in 2023, Washington had arguably the best freshman rushing season in Baylor history. Despite missing two games due to injury and getting dinged up in the bowl game, Washington smashed Baylor’s freshman single-season rushing records, going for 1,028 yards, 12 TDs, totaling six 100+ yard games on the ground, while also chipping in 22 receptions for 217 yards. Named a first-team freshman All-American by the Football Writers of America Association, Washington’s hard-charging one cut back that’s equally adept at being elusive outside and making guys miss in open space, or showing physicality in between the tackles, playing behind his pads and with a low center of gravity besides his 6’0 frame. After his breakout year, Aranda will have his hands full trying to keep Washington in Waco and fighting off million-dollar offers from college football bluebloods. He’s eligible for the draft after this season, but I see him wanting at least one more year in college and solidifying himself as a Day 1 or 2 prospect in 2027.

7. David Bailey, LB/EDGE, Texas Tech

The California native is set to end his collegiate career in Lubbock after a banner three seasons in Palo Alto. Arguably the top edge rusher available in the portal last cycle, PFF rated Bailey as the top returning edge rusher going into the season, coming off a season with a 93.2 PFF grade pass rush grade where he logged 31 tackles, 8 TFLs, 8 QB hurries, 7 sacks, and five forced fumbles. He looks like the prototype NFL pass rusher -- 6 '3, 240 pounds, with an elite first step and ideal bend and flexibility to consistently corner tackles, being named to Bruce Feldman’s 2023 “Freak List” after hitting over 20 MPH in preseason training, combined with a 550-pound squad max. He immediately becomes the conference’s best pass rusher who could be competing with his teammate at #4 for conference defensive player of year honors by season’s end.

8. Bud Clark, DB, TCU

A two-time captain who ended 2024 with a 90.1 PFF coverage grade that was third nationally amongst Power 4 safeties, the fifth-year senior has logged 11 picks in his Horned Frog career, showcasing his range and ball-hawking skills that make him the best DB in the conference from my view. With that, he shows impressive instincts in the box and a willingness to make plays coming downhill (67 tackles in 2024) despite just an average frame at 185 pounds. Most will remember him for his pick-six on JJ McCarthy in the 2022 playoffs, but, Clark is far more than the one play, a fluid mover in zone coverage that reads QB eyes and excels into baiting for turnover plays. Kerby Joseph and Marcus Williams are the two names that came to mind while watching Clark.

9. Rocco Becht, QB, Iowa State

Similar to Leavitt, I already covered Becht in depth in our Big 12 QB top list. The biggest hurdle that Matt Campbell will face going forward with Becht is keeping him in Ames, out of the portal, and away from college football’s blue blood, who will always have a championship-level roster ready for a plug-and-play starter like Becht. With two years of eligibility left, and likely at least one more in college after this season, Beach could be immortalized in Ames if the Cyclones can build off last year’s success, and with a Big 12 that doesn’t have an alpha team, Becht and Co. should be looking to repeat their appearance in the conference championship, and perhaps even more.

10. Dontay Corleone, DT, Cincinnati

Ending the list in the trenches! The 2024 College Football Network honorable All-American, Corleone has been a known commodity for a long time, being named an AP third-team All-American in 2022, and PFF’s highest rated defensive player that year. A hometown Cincinnati kid, the imposing menace known as “The Godfather” fits the bill as a no-nonsense nose tackle that consistently resets the line of scrimmage, shuts down A and B-gap runs, and puts offenses behind the chains on first and second down. And yet, he’s a true dancing bear that’s been clocked at 18 MPH, and a 4.68 pro shuttle. When he’s not tossing around centers and guards in the run game, he’s pushing the pocket as a developing pass rusher, using his quick first step, penetration, and violent hands to strike fear into quarterbacks the way running backs already fear him. As a classic nose guard, he’s not going to be the most highly regarded draft prospect, but he could easily be Alim McNeal or DJ Reader, making money in the NFL for a long time being an interior disruptor.

Honorable Mention (The best of the rest)

Keaton Thomas, LB, Baylor; Jordan Seaton, OT, Colorado; Josh Cameron, WR, Baylor; CJ Fite, DL, Arizona State; Sawyer Robertson, QB, Baylor

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Josh Crawford
JOSH CRAWFORD

Josh began covering Baylor athletics in July 2025. Before this, he previously wrote for Syracuse men's basketball and football at SI from 2022-24. As a former Division I defensive lineman at Prairie View, Josh is passionate about storytelling from a former athlete's perspective. When he's not covering Baylor, he enjoys traveling, listening to podcasts and music, and loves cooking a good meal.

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