Ten Bears Earn Preseason All-Conference Honors from Athlon, Phil Steele

WACO, Texas -- A total of 10 Baylor Bears have earned preseason All-Big 12 accolades from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Magazine.

The Bears have totaled 10 honorees between the two magazine releases in the preseason, featuring first-team honorees in defensive lineman Gabe Hall (Phil Steele) and running back Richard Reese (Athlon).

Hall headlined the Phil Steele honorees, which included second-team selection in linebacker Mike Smith, and third-team honorees in offensive lineman Clark Barrington, safety Devin Lemear and running back Dominic Richardson.

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The Athlon honorees were led by Reese, and included second-team selection at linebacker Matt Jones, and third-team selections in Hall and Barrington. Lemear, wide receiver Monaray Baldwin, defensive lineman TJ Franklin and outside linebacker Garmon Randolph each earned fourth-team honors.

A native of Killeen, Texas, Baldwin earned fourth-team accolades from Phil Steele in 2022 after leading the team in catches (33) and receiving yards (565), while tying for the team lead with four TD grabs. He had a pair of 100+ yard games and added seven rushes for 71 yards and a score.

Barrington, a 6-foot-6, 305-pound product of Spokane, Wash., joins the Bears in 2023 after an All-America career at BYU. He started 40 games and played in 46 for the Cougars from 2019-22, including 37 consecutive to end his career. Barrington earned All-America honors in 2021, including second-team honors from Action Network and third-team honors from Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Network.

Franklin enters his super senior year in 2023 after totaling 36 tackles, three tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks in 13 games in 2022, making 10 starts at defensive end. He added four QB hurries and broke up three passes. Franklin, a native of Temple, Texas, has played in 44 games in his career with 91 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss and eight sacks.

A native of Waller, Texas, Hall played in 13 games with 12 starts at defensive end last year. A 6-6, 295-pounder, Hall totaled 36 tackles with 5.5 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, one fumble returned for a TD, four QB hurries, two pass break ups and one blocked kick in 2022. He earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 31 after helping the Bears rout Texas Tech with three sacks and a QB hurry. He has played in 34 games in his career with 56 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss and 10.5 sacks.

Jones, a native of Odessa, Texas, started all 12 games he played in 2022 at inside linebacker. He finished with 65 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss, with two QB hurries and four pass break-ups. He owns 36 career games over his four years, with 122 tackles, including 14 for a loss and five sacks, defending seven passes, forcing three fumbles and owning one interception.

Lemear had a breakout redshirt freshman season in 2022 while starting all 13 games at safety. He finished with 57 tackles, including two for a loss, totaled two interceptions and two fumble recoveries and broke up four passes. He earned honorable mention Big 12 honors from the league coaches and received votes for Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.

A 6-7, 247-pound redshirt senior linebacker, Randolph played in all 13 games in 2022 with 11 starts at the JACK position. He finished with 43 tackles, including seven stops for a loss, with 4.5 sacks and four QB hurries. Randolph has played in 29 games in his four-year career, which featured a redshirt season in 2019, and owns 64 career tackles with nine for a loss and 6.5 sacks.

Reese shattered the Baylor program standard for rushing yards from a freshman in 2022 in his collegiate debut season out of Bellville High School. He earned first-team Freshman All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America and Pro Football Network and was named Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. He was the offensive freshman of the year in Texas by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football and was a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman Player of the Year Award. He ran for a freshman program record 972 yards and 14 TDs, which ranked fourth in program history, and totaled three games with 100+ rushing yards.

Richardson joins the Bears after playing in 30 games over three seasons at Oklahoma State. He rushed 272 times for 1,139 yards over his OSU career with 15 TDs. In 2022, he led the team with 149 carries and 543 yards, scoring eight times and adding 22 catches.

Smith, a 6-1, 225-pound fifth-year senior linebacker, played the 2022 season at Liberty, where he led the team with 85 tackles in 12 starts. He finished with 10 tackles for a loss, one interception, two QB hurries and three forced fumbles. He had two double-digit tackle efforts, including a 16-tackle outing in his Liberty finale in the Boca Raton Bowl.

The Bears open the 2023 season on Sept. 2 vs. Texas State at 6 p.m. in McLane Stadium on ESPN+ and the Baylor Sports Network.

2023 Football Honors

Monaray Baldwin, WR

• Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports)

Clark Barrington, OL

• Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports, Phil Steele)

T.J. Franklin, DL

• Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports)

Gabe Hall, DL

• Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)
• Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports)

Matt Jones, LB

• Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports)

Devin Lemear, S

• Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)
• Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports)

Garmon Randolph, OLB

• Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports)

Richard Reese, RB

• Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon Sports)

Dominic Richardson, RB

• Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Mike Smith, LB

• Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)