#5 OKLAHOMA STATE (11-1) vs #9 BAYLOR (10-2); Noon ET; ABC; Arlington … Nobody will blame Oklahoma State if they spend as much time on Saturday watching the scoreboard as focusing on Baylor, especially if they can defeat the Bears in the Big XII championship. That would appear to put the 5th-ranked Cowboys possibly into a position to move into the CFP playoff IF one of the teams ahead of them stumbles in their respective game later in the day. Don’t expect many stumbles from rising Oklahoma State junior QB Spencer Sanders (#3, 6-1, 210), a talented dual-threat type , although he may lack the pure arm strength to get much interest from NFL teams whenever he does enter the draft. In fact, it doesn’t look like anyone from the program is likely to be drafted until the later rounds this coming April. The Cowboys, though, are a veteran group that has a number of players who could get one of those late calls including RB Jaylen Warren (#7, 5-8, 215), WR Tay Martin (#1, 6-2, 190), OG Josh Sills (#72, 6-5, 325), C Danny Godlevske (#51, 6-2, 300), DE Brock Martin (#9, 6-3, 250), DT Israel Antwine (#95, 6-3, 300), LB Malcolm Rodriquez (#20, 5-11, 225), CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse (#24, 6-0, 200) and safeties Kolby Harvell-Peel (#31, 6-0, 210) and Jason Taylor (#25, 6-0, 215).
Baylor is something of a similar story to Oklahoma State, at least when it comes to the 2022 draft, in that the Bears don’t necessarily have anyone likely to be selected in the first two days, but are an experienced team with a lot of veteran talent that should get looks in the later rounds and in free agency. The Bears, for example, have one of the more productive 1-2 RB combinations in the country in Abram Smith (#7, 5-10, 225) and Trestan Ebner (#1, 5-10, 215). Smith, in particular, is a slasher who is currently 7 in the nation in rushing with almost 1,400 yards, while Ebner is a / type who is a good receiver and better kick returner. Not surprisingly, they work behind a solid offensive line including LT Connor Galvin (#76, 6-6, 310) and C/G Xavier Newman-Johnson (#55, 6-2, 315), while WR Tyquan Thornton (#9, 6-3, 185) is the leading receiver. The Bears best pro prospects, though, are probably on the other side of the ball in CB Kalon Barnes (#12, 5-11, 190) and LB Terrel Bernard (#2, 6-1, 225), while safeties Jalen Pitre (#8, 6-0, 200), Chris Morgan (#4, 6-0, 215) and JT Woods (#22, 6-1, 195) are all solid. At the same time, the heart and soul of the Bears are juniors Gerry Bohanon (#11, 6-3, 225), another athletic dual-threat QB, and MLB Dillon Doyle (#5, 6-2, 245)
