Four Bears Name First-Team All-Big 12
IRVING, Texas – Baylor football earned a total of 15 All-Big 12 awards, including four first-team honors, a second-team recognition and 10 honorable mention distinctions, as the league’s 2024 awards were announced on Thursday by the conference office.
Redshirt junior Josh Cameron (KR/PR), sixth-year senior Matt Jones (LB), redshirt sophomore Keaton Thomas (LB) and sophomore Palmer Williams (P) were each named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while redshirt junior Michael Trigg (TE) picked up a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team.
Cameron also received votes at wide receiver, earning honorable mention status alongside junior Omar Aigbedion (OL), redshirt senior Lorando Johnson (DB), redshirt senior Treven Ma’ae (DL), redshirt junior Jackie Marshall (DL) and senior Gavin Yates (FB).
Additionally, three different Bears received votes for four “Of the Year” awards in Cameron (Special Teams Player of the Year), Thomas (Defensive Newcomer of the Year) and redshirt freshman running back Bryson Washington (Offensive Freshman of the Year, Offensive Newcomer of the Year).
The five combined first- and second-team honorees tie for Baylor’s most in a single season since receiving seven in 2021.
One of the nation’s most elite return men, Cameron led the conference with a 20.7-yard average on 14 punt returns in 2024. He racked up a total of 290 return yards, good for fourth nationally, including a career-high 73-yard return at Texas Tech to inside the 1-yard line. For his prowess in the return game, Cameron also earned a spot on the Jet Award’s midseason watch list, which recognizes the nation’s most outstanding return specialist.
A sixth-year man out of Odessa, Texas, Jones put together his most complete season in the green and gold with a career-high 103 tackles, including 61 solo stops. He added 9.5 tackles for loss and four sacks, along with six pass breakups, a forced fumble and his first-career fumble recovery. Jones logged six games with double-digit tackles, the most by a Bear in a single season since Bryce Hager’s six in 2012.
In his first season in Waco, Thomas turned heads by leading the team with 107 total tackles, the most by a Bear in a single season since Terrel Bernard’s 112 in 2019. Thomas added seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks with one interception, a pick-six that he returned 35 yards in the season opener against Tarleton. Thomas produced four double-digit tackle outputs in 2024, including in three consecutive games against TCU, at West Virginia and at Houston.
Williams punted 41 times for 2,034 yards this season, leading the Big 12 with a BU school-record 49.6-yard average. In 2024, the sophomore from Advance, N.C., booted 21 kicks beyond 50 yards and downed 14 punts inside the 20. Williams had a career day at Utah in Week 2, setting a school record with 62.7 yards per punt, including massive boots of 57, 60, 76 and 79 yards, becoming the first Bear in program history with a pair of 70+ yard punts in the same game.
A weapon in the receiving game and a mismatch for most defenses, Trigg hauled in 30 receptions this season for 395 yards and three touchdowns. The redshirt junior transfer tight end caught at least three passes in six games this year, including a season-high six snags at Iowa State in Week 6. His 96-yard performance at Houston in Week 13, highlighted by a 42-yard one-handed grab, marked a season high.
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2024 ALL-BIG 12 AWARDS:
First Team
Josh Cameron – KR/PR
Matt Jones – LB
Keaton Thomas – LB
Palmer Williams – P
Second Team
Michael Trigg – TE
Honorable Mention
Omar Aigbedion – OL
Josh Cameron – WR
Lorando Johnson – DB
Treven Ma’ae – DL
Jackie Marshall – DL
Gavin Yates – FB
Honorable Mention Individual Awards
Special Teams Player of the Year - Josh Cameron
Offensive Newcomer of the Year - Bryson Washington
Defensive Newcomer of the Year - Keaton Thomas
Offensive Freshman of the Year - Bryson Washington