Baylor Gets Another Big Transfer in Michigan WR Darryl Stonum

I teased a couple of months ago that Baylor may be receiving another impact transfer from a Big Ten school and it is finally official per the man himself. Baylor fans, meet Darryl Stonum (@CornellStone22), your newest WR.

Stonum, for those that don't know, is a 6'2", 195 lb senior WR with one year of eligibility remaining. NCAA rules allow a student-athlete who has graduated already but retains another year of eligibility to transfer and play immediately, so he will be able to play this year for Baylor without having to sit out.

Like the other recent transfer from Penn State, Stonum is only leaving his original school because of dismissal from the football team following legal problems. Stonum's are a bit more involved, however, and it may be more difficult to convince the Baylor community to accept a player with a relatively sordid past. My counter to that is that Coach Briles would not go through the hoops to get him here and waste a scholarship on him if he did not believe that his reckless (and illegal, I don't want to sugar-coat anything) behavior was behind him. It is possible to learn from your mistakes, and as long as Briles believes that Stonum has done so and does not bring a heightened risk of negative publicity with him, then that's all I need to know.

As for the impact on the field, I have to believe that Stonum would only transfer if told he had at least a decent chance to start. Baylor's system utilizes two primary outside receivers, and we know senior WR Terrance Williams will be on one side, so it would stand to reason that Stonum will get a chance to compete with senior Lanear Sampson on the other side. It's also possible that Sampson may move inside opposite Tevin Reese. Sampson is, after all, slightly on the smaller side for an outside receiver. We'll see how it all shakes out when fall practice starts in a little over a month.

For now, welcome to Baylor, Darryl, and sic 'em!

UPDATE: Stonum was also a kick/punt returner at Michigan, so he's likely to do that at Baylor, as well. Could be a great complement to Goodley on kick returns, and a replacement for Wright on punts. Levi Norwood did a little of that, too later in the year.