91 Days till Kickoff: Baylor’s #91 Jaxon Player
As always, keep track of both the stats and roster countdowns in the Offseason Hub!
Jaxon Player is a fifth-year senior defensive lineman from Waco Midway. Player entered the transfer portal after his senior season at Tulsa University. Dave Aranda was able to bring the Waco native back home to finish his collegiate career as a Bear. Player was arguably one of the best transfer portal additions in the country, and he chose to come to Baylor not only to play in his hometown but to play for a defensive-minded coach. He is also planning on getting a degree in management.
In 2021, Player was elected to the 2021 Pro Football Focus All-America Third Team and 2021 First Team All-AAC. He played in all 13 games at defensive tackle and led the team with 14 tackles for loss. Player also had four sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and 49 total tackles. In games against better opponents, Player stepped up. He had five tackles and a forced fumble against No. 2 Cincinnati. He also had five tackles and a tackle for loss against Oklahoma State and a tackle for loss against No. 9 Ohio State.
Player was voted to First-Team All-AAC during the 2020 season. He played and started in all nine games at defensive tackle. The Waco native registered 37 tackles, 9.5 TFLs for -26 yards, three sacks, five QB hurries, and two blocked kicks. Player showed out in the four games Tulsa played against ranked opponents; he had a TFL and blocked a kick in the AAC Championship game against No. 6 Cincinnati.
In 2019, Player started eight of the nine games he played in. He totaled 35 stops and seven tackles for -13 yards. His best game of the season came against East Carolina where he had four tackles, a TFL, and one caused fumble.
As a true freshman in 2018, Player saw action in 10 games. He had 14 tackles and a blocked a PAT at USF.
At Waco Midway, Player helped lead his team to a 15-1 record as a senior and played in the state championship game. In his senior campaign that earned him first-team Super CenTex, Player totaled 136 tackles, 23 TFLs, and 9 sacks. Before committing to Tulsa over UTSA, UNT, and Air Force, Player was ranked the third defensive tackle in the state of Texas and was a three-star recruit according to Rvials.com.
Other fun notes from his bio on the Tulsa Athletics website: His favorite NFL team is the Dallas Cowboys. Aaron Donald is his favorite NFL player, and his favorite actor is Denzel Washington. Plus the most famous person he ever met was LaDainian Tomlinson.
