Top 25 Most Important Baylor Players In 2026: Colby McCalister Leads As Conference Veteran
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Transfer safety Colby McCalister was one of the highest rated additions to Baylor Football over the past offseason.
The redshirt senior made waves in the portal as he followed defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman out of Kansas State to Waco with a clean slate. As both a veteran of the Big 12 and of Klanderman’s defense, the pressure looms on McCalister to stand out as a leader in the secondary for the Bears.
McCalister lands at No. 21 in our top-25 most important Baylor players for 2026.
McCalister's time at Kansas State
McCalister’s biggest what-if ahead of his debut season at Baylor is the question of what he’ll bring to the table having not played competitive football in nearly two years.
The Houston native sat out the entirety of the 2025 season with a knee injury. The injury happened against Cincinnati in the final home game of his 2024 breakout year with the Wildcats. McCalister has since been rehabbing his knee looking to get 100 percent healthy, where he now sits eager to produce defensively again ahead of the start of Baylor’s season.
In 2024, McCalister burst onto the scene for the Wildcats. He played in 12 games for Kansas State and started his final three against Colorado, Arizona State, and Cincinnati prior to his injury.
Across his tenure in Manhattan, Kan. the safety totaled 61 tackles and seven pass breakups split between two seasons. McCalister also served as a regular face on special teams, becoming a prominent leader on the kickoff team.
What McCalister will bring to the Bears
McCalister is bringing to Baylor a haul of experience that is bound to benefit the Bears in more ways than one. What stands out the most coming from the redshirt senior is a sense of football maturity as well as a deep familiarity with Klanderman’s style of coaching that will be leading the defensive side of the ball this season.
Already bringing to Waco an awareness of Big 12 football as well as experience facing other conference opponents, McCalister has cemented himself as a key player on Baylor’s defense.
While questions exist concerning how McCalister will look in a Baylor uniform due to not seeing a football field in so long, the sky is truly the limit for the redshirt senior. With over 18 months of recovery under his belt, the 5’10 safety has high hopes for his final season of college football.
It has been a while since McCalister has seen the field, so a lot of uncertainties surround what the player is bringing to the Bears. The safety’s speed and raw athleticism, combined with his experience in the conference and the new defensive scheme, is enough to cement McCalister as one of the most impactful players to watch ahead of the new season.
See our full top 25 players:
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Dylan is a class of '26 graduate from Baylor and is now pursuing his JD at the University of Massachusetts School of Law. A born and raised Baylor fan, Dylan served as a sportswriter for the Baylor Lariat from 2025-2026, where he won the TIPA award for second-best sports story of 2025. His favorite writing memory was getting the chance to interview both Darryn Peterson and Bill Self at Allen Fieldhouse. In his free time, Dylan can almost always be found playing pickup basketball.
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