With Platt out, Bears have numbers to choose from for replacement

You can't replace 25.1 yards per reception and a reception-touchdown ratio of 3-1 by simply calling next man up. That's the issue Baylor will face with the likely loss of junior receiver Chris Platt for the remainder of the season as announced by Matt Rhule on Tuesday.

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Chris Platt caught 16 passes for 403 yards and five scores in 2017.

In four games to begin his junior campaign, Platt recorded 16 receptions for 401 yards and five touchdowns. The speedster had caught a pass of at least 70 yards in three of those four games, including a 72-yard strike against No. 3 Oklahoma three days ago, the game where he suffered the undisclosed injury.

Following a short reception with 12:08 remaining in the third quarter, Platt stayed down for a moment before hopping to his feet and jogging to the sideline. Platt proceeded to run multiple sprints on the sideline and even returned to the game for a play where he was the target of an incomplete pass by quarterback Zach Smith.

However, from that point on, Platt did not return to game action.

The Bears went on to score 16 additional points in the contest, including a touchdown to sophomore receiver Denzel Mims. Mims, who is averaging 22.6 yards per reception with a 3-1 reception-to-touchdown ratio on the season himself, will now be the largest focus of opposing defenses with Platt out.

After Platt's injury, Mims hauled in five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown, giving him 11 receptions for 192 yards and three scores on the game. It was a coming out party for Mims who had received high praise from the Baylor staff in the preseason but had yet to put together a consistent outing.

"He’s made a bunch of big plays, so far this year, but this is the first time we saw him go up and make receiver plays," Rhule said. "That first third down or whatever it was where he jumped up and just attacked the football. He has so much talent and so much potential, and he’s working at it, but it’s the first time you saw some confidence where I can do this. The plays down the sideline, even the last touchdown catch, he just became a guy that we said hey, this is a matchup for us that we didn’t feel like they could cover him and he didn’t feel like they could cover him."

But it's not the production of Mims that is of most concern.

The concern comes with finding a receiver who can step in and replace Platt as what could be classified as the co-No. 1 receiver. One might expect former receiver Blake Lynch to make the short trek back to the offensive film room, but Rhule shot that down by saying the sophomore was playing too well at corner to be moved again.

That leads to the most likely candidates of Tony Nicholson and Pooh Stricklin. After the exit of Platt, Nicholson caught three passes for 56 yards while Stricklin caught four passes for 74 yards. The 130 combined yards made up 81.7 percent of the 159 yards they totaled in the game.

Accordint to Rhule, Stricklin is the played who will fall into Platt's position.

"I thought Denzel rose to the occasion last game," Rhule said. "I think Tony Nicholson rose to the occasion. Pooh Stricklin will step into that spot and I think Pooh played really well on Saturday."

While Stricklin and Nicholson did connect on explosive plays of 32 and 41 yards, their combined average of 12.2 yards per catch was a far cry from Platt's 18.6 against the Sooners.

Jim Black

Tony Nicholson has caught 16 passes for 138 yards on the season.

"I don’t know that you can replace Chris’ big-time play capabilities, but that’s where we are," Rhule said. "We’re going to have to rely on Pooh, rely on Jared Atkinson. Some other guys that have been waiting their turn. Guys that got in a little bit on Saturday. And now they're going to have to step up in an effort to make up for Chris’ production.

Whatever the case is and whoever is asked to step up, they will be fortunate to have defenses focus their attention on Mims to begin with after his performance Saturday. If they can prove to be reliable, they will draw their own attention eventually.

"That was really good for the quarterback to know hey, if I have one-on-one, I’m going to go over there to Denzel and he’s going to make the play," Rhule said.