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          Big 12 Blog

          Strong and weak: Baylor Bears

          • Jake Trotter, ESPN Senior WriterMay 22, 2017, 04:00 PM
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              Jake Trotter covers college football for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2011. Before that, he worked at The Oklahoman, Austin American-Statesman and Middletown (Ohio) Journal newspapers. You can follow him @Jake_Trotter.
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          The next two weeks, we'll be examining the strongest and weakest positions on each Big 12 team heading into summer workouts and preseason camp.

          We begin the series with the Baylor Bears:

          Strongest position: Running back

          Even with Baylor's all-time leading rusher Shock Linwood gone, the Bears boast one of the best running back combinations in the league.

          As a sophomore last season, Terence Williams rumbled for 1,048 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, and no returning Big 12 runner had more rushing yards after contact.

          The lightning to Williams' thunder, JaMycal Hasty, broke out as a freshman in 2016. Despite being the third-team back, he ran for 623 yards and three touchdowns.

          Williams and Hasty averaged better than five yards per carry, despite running behind an offensive line that was in flux.

          The one downside to the position is depth. Incoming freshman Abram Smith was lost for the season with an ACL tear. That leaves just incoming freshman John Lovett and walk-on Wyatt Schrepfer as backups.

          Weakest position: Wide receiver

          Given Baylor's recent prolific past at the position, it's remarkable to think that wide receiver could ever be a weak spot for the Bears. But with KD Cannon and Ish Zamora having left early for the NFL draft (neither player was drafted), Baylor is depleted at the position.

          Chris Platt (35 catches last season) and Blake Lynch (34) will take over as the go-to options. Platt has big-time speed and averaged 16.2 yards per catch last season. Lynch is versatile, even carrying the ball 12 times out of the backfield last season.

          The Bears, however, will need others to step up.

          Tony Nicholson will be a part of the rotation after being a return specialist last season. He led the Bears in receiving in the spring game.

          Pooh Stricklin had 13 catches as a freshman last season, and fellow freshman Jared Atkinson had four.

          The Bears are banking that they will be getting a boost from their incoming freshman class.

          The top two overall recruits from coach Matt Rhule's first class -- R.J. Sneed and Trestan Ebner -- are receivers. If even oneof the ESPN 300 additions is ready to play right away, receiver could gradually become a strength in Waco again.