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Baylor head coach Dave Aranda during a scrimmage at McLane Stadium.
Baylor kicker Isaiah Hankins, left, and punter Palmer Williams during a scrimmage at McLane Stadium.
Baylor held its third scrimmage of the spring on Saturday at McLane Stadium.
“This week, in particular, from all of spring was probably the most competitive,” Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. “I think there have been guys that have been on a learning curve, whereas the day after is when you would kind of see it all come together.
“This week, we were able to see things come together the day of.”
The Bears have one more week of practice ahead of the Green & Gold spring game on April 20.
When it was announced that Aranda would have a more integral role with the defense, no group figured to benefit more than the linebackers.
Especially during his time as the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin and LSU, he became ‘one of the best defensive minds’ while partially focusing on the group, including winning a National Championship in 2019 with the Tigers.
It wasn’t hard for him to find the fire that made him one of the best defensive coordinators in the country.
“I feel pissed off a whole lot more,” he said. “I feel like I get mad more than I normally would. I think the intensity of everything is way risen up. I know that everybody feels the urgency and the intensity, and it’s got to start with us as coaches.”
For the second straight scrimmage, Aranda said transfer linebacker Keaton Thomas continues to show he belongs at the DI level.
The redshirt sophomore spent his two seasons at Northeast Mississippi Community College, where he was a First-Team NJCAA All-American, averaging nearly 12 tackles per game and finishing the year with more than 100 tackles, two interceptions and 1.5 sacks.
He started his career as a defensive back at West Virginia but redshirted during the 2022 season.
“He’s had a couple of days throughout the spring where you would argue he’s the best player on the field,” Aranda said.
Aranda also said sixth-year senior Matt Jones is the glue guy of the inside linebackers group.
Jones led Baylor with 82 tackles last season and tied for second on the team with three sacks and is one of two players on the roster who will be playing their sixth season in Waco this year.
The other experienced player is Garmon Randolph, who put on 20 pounds of good muscle in the offseason and figures to anchor the ‘peso’ package, as Baylor refers to it, with two edge rushers on the field at the same time.
“Garmon Randolph is playing the best football that he’s played since he’s been here,” Aranda said. “Whether it’s an intensity thing or a focus thing. Whatever had to click for him has clicked. He’s a different dude right now, and we’re glad to have him.”
For a defense that allowed the second-most touchdowns and third-most yards per game in the Big 12 last season, the linebackers will be the clearest picture of how much this year’s Baylor defense is crafted in Aranda’s image.
“I’m impressed with that linebacker group and how they’re progressing,” Aranda said. “We still have a whole lot of growth to go, but for where we’re at right now from where it was, it’s really good.”
Isaiah Hankins has seen the highs and lows in his career at Baylor.
He won the starting job as a freshman, only to be replaced after missing a couple of big kicks.
Last year, he established himself as the go-to field goal man for the Bears and made 21-for-23 in PATs and 18 of his 25 field goals, most notably a game-winner at UCF and two of his three attempts from 50 yards or more, including a career-high 54-yarder against Texas Tech.
“Coming into this spring, I have been trying to focus on mostly taking slower intentional reps instead of just trying to hit a million kicks,” he said. “Just kind of slow it down and make every rep intentional.”
But the competition is there.
Junior Jack Stone, who was 2-for-4 in field goal attempts and 15-for-16 in PATs in one year at Michigan State, primarily handled kickoffs for Baylor last, but has been focusing on being more consistent on field-goal tries.
“It’s definitely a spot where I want to see more consistency,” Stone said. “Because once I get that down, I can really take off and be the kicker I know I can be.”
One place that is not an open competition is the punter.
As a true freshman, Palmer Williams averaged more than 42 yards per punt for 1,501 total yards with a long of 53 yards. A total of 20 of his 35 punts were either fair caught or downed inside the 20-yard line.
The No. 1 punting prospect coming out of high school, Williams also served as the holder, another thing he had to learn quickly, especially with the left-footed Hankins and right-footed Stone.
“Last year was a lot of learning for me,” Williams said. “I made a lot of mistakes, but I definitely learned a lot last year, just kind of being thrown into the fire. I didn’t really have any training wheels on. That kind of helped me out with maturity as well.”
Aranda said last week when offensive lineman Kurt Danneker had a big brace on his knee and was working separately from the group that he would be out for an unknown period.
Turns out, that was about a week.
Danneker, the 6-foot-3, 335-pound offensive lineman who spent the last six seasons at Ohio, was back at practice on Saturday.
He made 25 starts and played in 36 games during his time at Ohio, and was ranked the 19th highest-rated guard in the group of five in pass blocking and the 10th best in run-block, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Bears allowed 34 sacks, nearly three per game, which was the most in the Big 12 and tied for 23rd most in the country.
“I thought there was an improvement from earlier in the week,” Aranda said. “Some of the fronts and some of the multiple stuff we’re doing with the tempo is going to, in the end, really strengthen and really fortify their attack. Right now, they’re kind of working through it.
“I like our group and I like the edge with our group.”
The quarterback competition is ongoing, with Sawyer Robertson, Dequan Finn and RJ Martinez all showing Aranda something different throughout the spring.
One of the biggest things that has stood out is the amount of time different quarterbacks have and their ability to improvise behind an offensive line that’s still learning how to play in an up-tempo scheme.
“RJ made some good throws today, he was able to step up in the pocket and connect on things,” Aranda said. “There was a clear view for him to make plays. If the view is messy or dirty and it’s not the way it’s drawn up, that’s where Dequan has really shown.”
Robertson has the most experience at Baylor, throwing for 117 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions, and rushing for 69 yards and a touchdown in six games (five starts) last season.
Martinez saw time off the bench in three games, throwing for 110 yards and rushing for another 22 yards.
Finn was one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal after throwing for 7,074 yards with 63 touchdowns and 23 interceptions and rushing for 1,840 yards and 25 touchdowns in his five-year career at Toledo.
“To get it to where we can really get more production to where the pocket is clean for everybody and to get more production from a few guys when the pocket breaks down is where we’re at,” Aranda said.
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Baylor head coach Dave Aranda during a scrimmage at McLane Stadium.
Baylor kicker Isaiah Hankins, left, and punter Palmer Williams during a scrimmage at McLane Stadium.
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