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Baylor Football Recruiting Notes: May 2014

After one of the most successful monthly recruiting threads in ODB history, it's time for another!

By Mark C. Moore
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

April saw two more new Bears join the ranks of 2015 commits in C Sam Tecklenburg and ATH John Humphrey.  Could May be even better for Baylor fans?

More: April Recruiting Thread

247Sports' Crystal Ball:

Baylor's 2015 Crystal Ball Prediction List / Mark Moore's Predictions

Check back on these often; the predictions update every day.

2015 Recruiting Class -- National Rank: 13, Commits: 10

OFFENSE: QB (1/1), RB (1/2), WR (2/3), TE (0/0), OL (2/3)

QB: Chad President
QB/WR: Blake Lynch
RB: JaMycal Hasty
WR: Devontre Stricklin
OT: Maurice Porter (JUCO)
C: Sam Tecklenburg

DEFENSE: DT (0/1), DE (1/2), LB (1/2), NB (0/1), CB (2/2), S (0/2)

DE/LB: Louis Brown
LB: Breckyn Hager
CB: Jordan Tolbert
CB: John Humphrey

2015 Wish List:

RB (speed): Corey Dauphine (Tech) | Tyreik Gray (100% Baylor)
RB (big back): Soso Jamobo (50% OU, 13% BU)
WR (inside): Ryan Newsome (72% UT, 9% BU)
WR (outside): Damarkus Lodge (59% Baylor)
OT: Conner Dyer (47% Tech, 6% BU), Madison Akamnonu (44% Texas, 44% OU, 0% BU)

DE: James Lockhart (62% A&M, 38% Baylor)
DT: Darrion Daniels (100% Baylor)
OLB: Malik Jefferson (70% A&M, 7% BU) | Anthony Wheeler (69% UT, 0% BU) | Cameron Townsend (100% UT, 0% BU)
XLB: Clay Johnston (100% Baylor) | Richard Moore (50% Baylor, 50% A&M)
S: Kahlil Haughton (80% Baylor) | PJ Locke (40% Baylor)

All of the players above hold Baylor offers and have indicated at least some interest in the Bears such that their inclusion is not simply the result of wishful thinking.

Players Removed (who did not commit to us): CB Kris Boyd (he not comin'), CB Marcus Lewis (Florida), OT Keaton Sutherland (Probably commits to Arky soon), RB Ronald Jones, Jr. (Oklahoma State), CB P.J. Mbanasor (I think we're out), LB Ricky DeBerry (Baylor out), RB Chris Warren (Baylor backed off), QB Jarrett Stidham (Texas Tech), S Larry Pryor (A&M).

UPDATES:

2015 Recruiting:

OT Connor Williams (5/28): Updating this on 5/29, but the offer went out yesterday.  Huge offer list for a 3* OT, including Oregon, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and a ton of others that don't start with "O".  Has to be considered unlikely at this point. Shows Baylor really wants a HS OT in this class, though.

DE James Lockhart (5/27): This was actually yesterday.  I feel pretty confident of Baylor making his Top 6, even if CB is trending hard to Texas A&M.

LB Breckyn Hager (5/22): Committed today.  His profile lists him at 6-3, 210.  You can view his HUDL film here.  I'm not sure how or if this affects the recruitment of anyone else, like Clay Johnston.

S Kahlil Haughton (5/22): Released his top 10. We made it.

247Sports updated their rankings recently. 5 Bears made the Top247.

QB Chad President (5/19): Now in the Rivals Top 100 at #93.

Other Baylor targets in their latest rankings:
LB Malik Jefferson -- #19 (5*)
WR Damarkus Lodge -- #39
RB Soso Jamobo -- #45
S Deionte Thompson -- #59

Ronald Jones is #43, in case you were curious.

DE James Lockhart (5/19): A&M offered this past week and then surged to 55% in the CB in a matter of days. Doesn't look good for Baylor.

OT Deya Mhiesen (5/14): I was wrong before-- this mammoth (6'8", 305) OT will enroll in January wherever he chooses. Should be quite a hot commodity, and the fact that we are looking at another JUCO tackle for that class should tell you something about the OL situation in 2015.

OT Conner Dyer: (5/13): Conner's dad took notice of Baylor's Draft success on Twitter:

S Deionte Thompson (5/10): Rumors circulating that the Alabama commit may be opening things back up.  Baylor has been on him for a long, long time.  If those rumors are confirmed, he will rocket to the top of the Wish List.

CB Jordan Tolbert (5/9): Committed!  Check out his HUDL profile until I can get something up later.  I'm out and about.

LB Clay Johnston (5/5): Baylor offered this evening.  This one could happen soon.

RB Corey Dauphine (4/29): Ran a reported 21.14 this past weekend in the 200 and may be in line for a Baylor offer soon.  Is committed now to Texas Tech. UPDATE: Got his Baylor offer after talking tonight to Lebby.

QB Kai Locksley (4/26): Baylor offered in the middle of April and then made Kai's updated top 10. Told 247Sports that he's going to visit both Baylor and UT this summer.

RB Rodney Anderson (4/24): The 4* RB decommitted from Texas A&M last night (or "reopened his commitment," if you prefer that verbiage).  Aside from the possibility that Baylor now recruits him harder and lands him (which, though unlikely, is at least possible), this could impact our recruiting in several different ways.  The most obvious is that A&M now looks elsewhere for another RB for this cycle and casts their gaze in the direction of commit JaMycal Hasty.  I'd consider that likely even if Hasty doesn't fit the same "big back" profile as Anderson.  The next is that Anderson commits to someone like OU (Crystal Ball at 75% for the Sooners), influencing their recruiting of someone like Soso Jamobo, who we know Baylor wants as our big back.  This is definitely a situation to watch going forward, even if the chances that Anderson becomes a Bear are slim.

I'm not going to add Anderson to our "big back" slot on the Wish List unless we hear something about Baylor recruiting him harder in the aftermath of his decommitment.

2016 Recruiting:

ATH D'Eriq King (5/30): Keep an eye on this guy.  He's coming this weekend, and the Crystal Ball already favors Baylor.  Oh, and we offered today.

S Jaylon Jones (5/27): Baylor offered today.

QB David Moore (5/27): Camping this weekend.  Does not have a 247Sports profile as of this moment (that I can find).

S Deontay Anderson (5/21):  Everybody on Earth is offering this kid, and we have now joined them. HUDL profile.

ATH Marquez Stevenson (5/15): Baylor offered yesterday, the first team to do so.

QB Shea Patterson (5/13): Baylor offered today.  Our offer pattern at QB for 2016 is interesting, to say the least.  Already has offers from Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, and a host of others.  247 has him at #2 for pro-style QBs in 2016.

DE Justin Madubuike (5/6): Baylor offered the Top 247 DE today.

SB Nation Recruiting Scouting Reports:

The fine gentlemen at SB Nation Recruiting have been putting together scouting reports by the dozen for major 2015 prospects. A few of those reports are germane to us as Baylor fans:

QB Chad President
RB Ronald Jones
RB Soso Jamobo
RB Tyreik Gray
RB/WR JaMycal Hasty
WR Damarkus Lodge
DT Darrion Daniels
DE James Lockhart
LB Malik Jefferson

RECRUITING THOUGHTS: 2015

I added Abilene LB Clay Johnston to the Wish List today as what I'm calling a "XLB."  I wanted to explain that a bit.  In actuality, Johnston is probably a OLB or maybe even MLB, but I believe he will take the spot of Richard Moore should he commit as expected.  He would not take the place of a Jefferson or Wheeler.  Baylor would still take those guys without question.  Moore is the one who will be pushed out should Johnston commit.

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With nine commits already and two potential greyshirts, Baylor may only have about 6 or 7 more spots left in our 2015 recruiting class. Think about that for a minute. If that's true, I break the guaranteed spots left among the following players:

Lodge
Lockhart
Daniels
Jamobo
Wheeler/Jefferson/Townsend (one of the three)
Dyer or Akamnonu (Baylor really wants a HS OT in this class)

I think those five could commit at any time and Baylor would take them. I'd probably add Stidham to the list if he wanted to switch.

That leaves 1-2 spots split between another possible DT, CB, and S.

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I'm intrigued by the offer to Corey Dauphine, current Tech commit.  I don't think our pursuit of him says anything about our chances with Jamobo, nor should that be the takeaway from the fact we want another RB.  It's more likely that we have reverted to the original plan of playing Hasty in a RB/WR role and Dauphine is a backup plan from losing Ronald Jones.  In that situation, we probably don't have room for someone like Ryan Newsome anymore, but absent confirmation of that, I'm going to leave him on the list.  I wonder what would happen if he tried to commit, though.

Changelog:

5/1/2014: Created May Recruiting Thread.  Updated Thoughts section.
5/5/2014: Offer to 2015 LB Clay Johnston.
5/6/2014: Updated the 2015 Wish List.  The DC CB we offered (Marcus Lewis) committed to Florida in April, and I totally missed it when it happened.  Added Clay Johnston to the Wish List.  Offer to 2016 DE Justin Madubuike.
5/9/2014: CB Jordan Tolbert committed!
5/10/2014: S Deionte Thompson update.
5/13/2014: Updated 2015 Wish List.  Removed CB Kris Boyd. Update about 2015 OT Conner Dyer.  Offer to 2016 QB Shea Patterson.
5/14/2014: Baylor offered OT Deya Mhiesen today in a really interesting situation.
5/15/2014: Offer to 2016 ATH Marquez Stevenson.
5/19/2014: Rivals Top 100 is out today with QB Chad President the lone Baylor representative.  Updated the 2015 Wish List %s.  Offer to 2015 LB Breckyn Hager.
5/21/2014: Offer to 2016 S Deontay Anderson.
5/22/2014: Baylor making progress with Soso and Malik (check the %s).  Added Breckyn Hager to 2015 Wish List.  Blake Lynch up to 94 by 247Sports.  Breckyn Hager commits.
5/25/2014: Updated the 2015 Wish List %s.
5/27/2014: Offer to 2016 S Jaylon Jones.  New camper this weekend.
5/29/2014: Offer to 2015 OT Connor Williams.
5/30/2014: Update on 2016 ATH D'Eriq King, including an offer.

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