By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
No matter what the highs and lows of Baylor football has been the past few years under head coach Dave Aranda, one consistency has been the talent in the wide receiver room. While former Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson was in shotgun, there were always fan-favorite names darting routes across the field in hopes of a completion.
This year will be no different for the Bears, as a loaded group is once again lining up at the wings of the offense. Wide receivers coach Dallas Baker has brought a sense of community-focused culture to the position group that has turned spring ball up to 11.
“I love this group and character is the first reason why,” Baker said. “These guys want to be great on and off the field and I’m loving this room for that exact reason of their character.”
Over the past few years, the Bears have developed a theme they call “commitment time,” a Friday-night practice that runs from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. These practices are attended by any player that missed another practice, weight room, team meeting or film study, or was late more than twice.
Baker noted how last year’s punishment-centered practice saw one frequent returner from the wide receiver room, as one of his players set the school record for “commitment time” appearances. So far this spring, Baker said not one wide receiver has attended the late-night practice, which he repeatedly voiced his pride of.
“We have actually not had one receiver make commitment time,” Baker said. “Everybody is making body weight, and it is actually putting the pressure on me to match their energy.”
The position room lost a vocal leader in Josh Cameron following the end of the 2025 season, opening the door for a new player to step up and lead the group through the grind of the spring. Baker said he has pushed the room as a whole to all be leaders in their own right, in hopes of developing healthy competition between the players.
“It’s not just one guy you know,” Baker said. “I would like for [redshirt senior Oklahoma State transfer] Gavin Freeman to talk a little bit more because the guys already look up to him because of his body of work … Even when I played, we always had more than two guys trying to be the leader, which makes whoever thinks they’re the leader go even harder.”
Headlining the new faces in the receiver room is redshirt freshman Taz Williams Jr., the highest-rated recruit in a highly regarded 2025 recruiting class.
“We’re all just bought in,” Williams said. “We’re all fighting for the same end goal, and we’re all fighting together to get there.”
San Diego State transfer Louis Brown IV, a redshirt senior, finally takes the field as a presumed starter after high praise from the coaching staff during last summer’s training. Brown made the decision to redshirt last season due to the Bears’ depth in the receiver room, and now looks forward to being one of the primary guys in the position group.
“It was tough because I did not want to redshirt, but it ended up being the right decision at the time,” Brown said. “I’m just trying to step up and be that leader that Josh and [Michael] Trigg were. The dude that was just preaching and harping on the playbook and all the fundamentals … Just trying to fill that role that those guys left behind for me.”
The receiving Bears are looking forward to catching balls from Florida transfer quarterback DJ Lagway, who headlined the incoming transfer class in Waco.
“DJ does a really good job of trying to feed everybody the ball,” Baker said. “Last week he was hooking it up with Gavin Freeman, today it was somebody else … He does a great job of finding the chemistry with all the guys which will make it easier for us come gameday.”
The Bears will showcase their spring work at Baylor’s Fan Fest open practice event at 10 a.m. April 25 at McLane Stadium.
