Football Lands Commitment from WR Monaray Baldwin

This week has been a much needed injection of positivity for the football program. Coming off 5 straight losses in Big 12 play and losing several high profile commitments from its 2021 recruiting class, the team pulled off a great comeback against Kansas State and now has rebuffed its recruiting class with the addition of Monaray Baldwin, a small, speedy WR from Killeen, TX.

I was particularly enthused when Baylor offered him yesterday. I unabashedly loved Rhule’s staff’s recruiting philosophy of trusting their eyes and offering guys even if they were unknown by virtually everyone else. Due to COVID, it has been difficult to evaluate the new staff’s recruiting philosophy, but the offer of Baldwin was the first time—at least from what I’ve seen, it is possible I have missed some guys—that they have offered a relative unknown. It speaks to confidence and their ability to trust their gut.

Baldwin is fast, fast, fast. He has a PR of 10.66 in the 100m which points to legit sub 4.5 speed. That’s in the same range as guys like Josh Fleeks, Mark Milton, and Raleigh Texada. He’s small, but he brings a lot of value as a guy who you can line up in the slot and just blow by people.

Remind you of anyone?

Baldwin isn’t just pure straight line, though. He has the requisite athleticism to bend around the corner and is pretty good in short spaces. This kind of athleticism—the ability to turn the corner and maintain your speed and balance—is much more difficult than you might think. Great stuff.

I like Baldwin a lot, and I like even more that the Baylor staff trusted their gut and went after a guy that had no major offers. When you’re early and right, though, it can be a major boon.

Here’s to Baylor finishing out the season strong.