Some Big 12 Conference players to watch next season:
BAYLOR: Redshirt sophomore Lorando Johnson, a former four-star recruit known as ”Snaxx,” is expected to take over the hybrid linebacker-defensive back spot in the Bears defense. Jalen Pitre was the Big 12 defensive player of the year in that role last season. Johnson had only four tackles in eight games last season, and his only start was in the Sugar Bowl when the Bears opened in a dime package with six defensive backs.
IOWA STATE: Sophomore Hunter Dekkers is in line to take over for Brock Purdy, the winningest QB in school history who set 32 school records while starting the last 46 games. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Dekkers spent the last two seasons as Purdy’s backup. Dekkers played in four games in 2021, completing 20 of 36 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns on four carries. Dekkers is a former four-star recruit out of Hawarden, Iowa, where he broke Iowa high school career records with 10,628 yards and 126 touchdowns passing.
KANSAS: Minnesota transfer Ky Thomas and Nebraska transfer Sevion Morrison join Devin Neal in giving the Jayhawks one of the better running back groups in the Big 12 next season. They’ll need all three of them to contribute, too, given the mediocre play of the Kansas offensive line in recent years and lingering questions at quarterback.
KANSAS STATE: The success or failure of the Wildcats in 2022 rests largely on whether Adrian Martinez, a four-year starter at Nebraska, is able to bounce back from offseason shoulder surgery and eliminate the interceptions and other mistakes that relegated him to mediocrity with the Cornhuskers. The shoulder appears to be ahead of schedule and that’s good news given the dearth of other replacements for the departed Skylar Thompson.
OKLAHOMA: Junior wide receiver Marvin Mims is one of the best players who stayed after coach Lincoln Riley left for USC, and the speedster should be a primary target for…