By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
With experience comes expectations, and Baylor football’s wide receiver room hasn’t been shy about voicing their talent and goals heading into 2024. After finishing near the bottom of the pack in wide receiver yards in 2023, a fire was lit under Bear receivers, and nothing short of dominance is now their desire.
“Our goal is to be the best wide receiver corps in the nation. We’ve been talking about that for a while now. I feel like we have the guys to do it. We just have to go put the work in to reach that goal,” senior wide receiver Monaray Baldwin said. “We have a lot of potential, honestly, and if we can just keep going up, then we’re going to be great this season.
“Coach (Dallas) Baker really talked about winning the Biletnikoff. I guess it’s kind of like a race in the room to see who can win the Biletnikoff. So that’s my goal.”
The Biletnikoff Award is given to the season’s most outstanding receiver, with the most recent winner being Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. Winning the praise wouldn’t be new for a Bear, as in 2015, Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman took home the hardware. Bringing the award back to Waco may not be too big of a stretch with offensive coordinator Jake Spavital’s Air Raid offense inducing a heavy dose of passing.
“I like the offense a lot. And it’s not even just offense, Coach Spav, he brings a lot of energy to us. It makes us want to go out and perform,” Baldwin said. “And you know, the offense is kind of easy. It’s just we’re throwing the ball a lot. That’s what we want to do as receivers.”
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins was dubbed to the award’s watch list earlier this fall alongside 48 players nationwide. Primarily a slot receiver, Hawkins transferred from Texas State in the spring and has steadily seen his stock rise.
“Ashtyn’s one of the best wide receivers [in the nation]. I mean, to get a chance to compete against a guy like that, and then, seeing what you can do to stop him, and you stop him,” sophomore safety Carl Williams IV said. “Then he goes into his lab and he does something to get one on me.”
During training camp, Hawkins thrived in one-on-one drills against the secondary, and most of the defense shared Williams’ compliments as the receiver provoked defensive miscues during scrimmages.
“Ashtyn Hawkins, this week, was almost unguardable at times,” Aranda said following the team’s final scrimmage of training camp. “[He’d] really jump off the page in terms of the tempo is fast, there are formations and routes that give you issues in terms of rules and eye transfers and all of it… [his] talent, combined with the scheme, make it difficult to defend in the moment.”
The Bears didn’t add too much to the room outside of Hawkins due to the group’s experience. Returning seniors Baldwin, Hal Presley and Ketron Jackson combined for 1,334 yards in 2023, more than 70 percent of the team’s total receiving yards at that position.
Presley returned to camp with a chip on his shoulder after missing significant time in 2023 due to injuries. A once reserved 6-foot-3, 210-pound receiver now oozes confidence with the understanding that he has one last chance to give it all he’s got and let his play do the talking.
“I just want to be the best in my ability. I feel like there are a lot of people that doubted me; not saying that I’m playing for the doubters, but I kind of want to prove myself. That’s what I’m going into this season for. Prove myself, make a statement, let it be known who I am,” Presley said. “I haven’t been waiting for three years for nothing, so I’m ready for it… You’ll see.”
During the summer months, sixth-year senior quarterback Dequan Funn traveled from his hometown of Detroit to spend weekends in Dallas with Presley and other receivers to build more significant connections before training camp. On the receiving end, Baldwin and Presley raved about how helpful those weekends were for personal growth and team bonding.
“Coming into college, I didn’t really get any extra work outside of football. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’ll go back home and then in my quarterback will go back home with me and he’ll throw.’ DQ did that,” Presley said. “I feel like it builds, the chemistry and it’s definitely showing up.”
Maybe the increased confidence stems from the added connections and a strong foundation, but competition has been the root of strength with a receiver room including nine upperclassmen.
“If you’ve seen the roster and you’ve seen practice, it’s a lot of competition. Everybody’s good. I know we’ve been saying that for the last two years it feels like, but I’m really being serious,” senior wide receiver Hal Presley said. “Hey, Devin Lemear was not lying when he said we got some of the fastest guys in the country. It’s real.”
Aranda also felt Presley and Lemear were spot on when saying speed was going to be the strength of the 2024 Baylor offense. Most notably, Baldwin was selected to The Athletic’s Freaks List for the second consecutive season, highlighting athletes with above-average intangibles. At 5-foot-9, Baldwin earned a 98-speed rating in the newly released EA Sports College Football 25 video game to further hype his wheels.
With a belief of greatness stemming from the receiver room, it’s important to note that the top four Baylor wide receivers in 2023 combined for fewer yards (1,558) than the nation’s leading receiver (Washington’s Rome Odunze, 1640). So, as training camp came to a close, Presley felt he pinpointed what was missing last year and why the receiving corps was finally ready for a breakout four years in the making.
“I feel like it’s a different level of maturity right now. We all know what we’ve got to do. We know that the offense is going to run through the receivers,” Presley said. “It was person before player [last year] but now it’s a little bit on the player side. Like, you gotta make plays. That’s where we’re at now.”
