Baylor Football: 3 early 2021 signees who’ll have instant impacts

Dave Aranda is trying to get Baylor football turned back in the right direction again. Which early 2021 signees will have an immediate impact?

Coming off of a 11-3 campaign, featured by a Big 12 and Sugar Bowl appearance, Baylor took a drastic drop in 2020. Former head coach Matt Rhule left for the NFL to take the head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers. Many of his staff members followed and left an array of vacancies at Baylor.

Former LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda stepped in and took the job as the head coach of Baylor. He set up multiple different coordinators from different backgrounds to help assemble the Bears. North Carolina head coach and air-raid-oriented Larry Fedora became the offensive coordinator, while former Louisiana defensive coordinator Ron Roberts came to Baylor.

In a season with an entirely new staff coupled with COVID-19, the Bears limped to the finish line of the season. They finished 2-7 and their lone wins in conference coming from the state of Kansas.

With all of that being said, there were still positive signs and position groups to look forward to. Baylor lost four of their games by one score or less and held Oklahoma to their lowest points and yards total since 2015.

The inefficiency of the offense and flat out underwhelming play calling was the demise for the Bears. There is ammunition on the way for Baylor as they signed 17 players on Wednesday. They also added a grad transfer in Dartmouth wide receiver Drew Estrada who’s a former second-team All-Ivy League player from Dallas.

After landing the No. 50 class in 2020, the Bears improved to a 42nd-ranked class in 2021 — so far. They improved, ranking fifth in the conference and have a couple spots left to fill.

Out of the 17 prospects, there are three that can make among the biggest impact in their first season on campus.