Storylines of Baylor's 2017 Recruiting Cycle

With less than two months until National Signing Day and only one commitment in place when Matt Rhule was hired in early December, the task of overcoming a 2016 class that was torn apart seven months ago to redevelop Baylor’s depth was seen as a luxury to Baylor fans and an impossibility to their opposition.

Now six days from Feb. 1, the Bears hold 20 commitments in their 2017 class with a foundation of high school players who were recruited by programs all around the country. Rhule was also able to add two Power 5 transfers from PAC-12 and SEC programs to supplement the class even further.

When signed, the final 16 excluding the transfers and mid-term high school prospects would elevate Baylor to 78 scholarships prior to any additional attrition that might be faced following the spring semester. If Rhule is shooting for 85, the Bears need to receive additional commitments from and sign seven more prospects on Feb. 1.

Beginning on Monday of this week, the Bears have hosted three mid-week official visitors, will host another unofficial visitor Thursday, and then host their final round of highly sought after official visitors this weekend.

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2017 BAYLOR FOOTBALL COMMITMENT LIST

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Recruiting Battles Late

With the final days here, Baylor finds themselves in the middle of multiple recruiting battles even still. The Bears have one their fair share thus far, but possibly the most significant battles are out in front of them.

OL, George Moore (San Mateo College): Moore took a mid-week official visit to Baylor this week. Oregon, and Auburn look to be Baylor's biggest competition.

LB, DeMarco Artis (Seminole, FL/Seminole): The one-time Florida State commit took an official visit to Baylor last weekend and will visit Oregon this weekend. The Bears and Ducks will battle it out here.

LB, Devodrick Johnson (Kimball): Currently committed to Texas A&M, Baylor is making a big push for the tremendous athlete.

DE, Justin Harris (Gonzales, LA/East Ascension): The 6-foot-6, 250-pound defensive lineman is down to Baylor and LSU and will officially visit Baylor this weekend.

DE/TE, BJ Thompson (England, AR/England): Baylor looked to be in control for the lengthy athlete, but Florida State will get their official visit to end the week before Baylor see him on campus this weekend.

ATH, Connor Wedington (Sumner, WA/Sumner): Wedington was on Baylor's campus this week, will visit UCLA this weekend, but Stanford is the team to watch as Baylor's biggest competition.

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The "Flip" Board Has Been Active

Among Baylor's 20 commitments, 11 of those prospects were previously committed to other programs at some other time in their recruitment including Southern California, Arizona State, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas, Colorado, Houston, SMU, Tulsa, Temple and Central Arkansas.

Baylor also continues to pursue others who were previously committed elsewhere or are still currently committed elsewhere, including most notably Colorado, Florida State, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Michigan State and Texas A&M.

Baylor's current class, which has been put together inside of 60 days rather than the 12-plus months usually taken by programs to evaluate, offer and recruit, ranks inside the top 40 nationally among all of the major national recruiting services including No. 39 according to 247Sports Composite rankings.

Additional flips of a number of those prospects still being pursued would move Baylor closer to the top 30 in the country.

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Addressing Immediate Needs

After losing over half of their 2016 recruiting class which included both junior college and high school prospects, Baylor was in need of filling in depth in positions such as the offensive and defensive line, quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

For an offense which was so talented in previous years, the depth offensively was left for dead following 2016.

Behind Rhule's leadership, the Bears have hit the high school ranks and have replenished their depth (and their future) with six days to spare.

Offensive Line: Xavier Newman (DeSoto), Jason Moore (Frisco Independence), Henry Klinge (Southlake Carroll), Khalil Keith (Alpine, AL/Winterboro) and Eleasah Anderson

Defensive Line: James Lynch (Round Rock), Cole Maxwell (Allen) and Rob Saulin (Pennsville, NJ/Pennsville)

Quarterback: Transfer Anu Solomon (Arizona) and Charlie Brewer (Lake Travis)

Running Back: Abram Smith (Abilene)

Wide Receiver: RJ Sneed (Cy Ranch), Trestan Ebner (Henderson) and Gavin Holmes (Justin Northwest)