Barfknecht: Baylor transfers in spotlight

It's a good thing Baylor defensive tackle Phil Taylor has really broad shoulders.

He'll need them to remain ambulatory under all of the expectations placed on him for this season. And I'm talking about his own team's expectations.

“He's a monster,'' BU quarterback Robert Griffin said of the junior transfer from Penn State, whom he faced on the scout team last season. “I hope y'all don't get tackled by him. He's the real deal.''

OK, maybe you can pass that off as an over-exuberant college athlete wanting to speak well of a new teammate.

But how do you explain the following comments from head coach Art Briles?

“I don't think there are five defensive linemen in America like Phil,'' Briles said. “He's 6-5, weighs 352 pounds and he's got the feet of a 165-pounder.

“Those people just don't exist. Plus, he has the demeanor that coincides with what we're looking for on the defensive side of the ball.''

Whew!

Now, take another deep breath because Taylor isn't the only big man on Baylor's campus getting jaw-dropping reviews.

Say hello to offensive tackle Danny Watkins, who was too busy playing hockey and rugby while growing up in British Columbia to don football gear until two years ago.

The volunteer firefighter landed at Butte (Calif.) College because of the school's fire academy. He ended up on the football team when a friend suggested that his 6-foot-4, 310-pound frame might look good in helmet and pads.

After two seasons of All-Region and All-America play, Watkins enrolled at Baylor in January. He showed in spring practice that Baylor's loss of left offensive tackle Jason Smith, the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft, isn't a season-killer.

“Danny's a great player,'' Griffin said. “I'm not saying he's better than Jason. But he can definitely fill Jason's shoes.''

Now you see why the buzz in central Texas is more serious than ever about Baylor ending its 15-year bowl drought.

An old coaching axiom holds that the most successful defenses have an honors candidate at each of three levels: line, linebacker and secondary.

The addition of Taylor to a unit that already includes All-American Joe Pawelek at middle linebacker and two-time All-Big 12 pick Jordan Lake at free safety fills that formula.

“He's going to make my job a lot easier,'' Pawelek said. “Now, people will have to stay on him, which will leave me more room to run than ever. This could be a lot of fun.''

On offense, if Watkins can fill the role of Smith in protecting the blind side of Griffin, the Bears should continue their explosive ways.

So how did Taylor and Watkins find their way to Waco, Texas?

Taylor got booted at Penn State in August 2008 after pleading guilty to two misdemeanors and getting one year of probation for his involvement in a brawl at the school's student union.

Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Maryland were interested in the former four-star recruit out of Clinton, Md. But he ended up at Baylor because of Brian Norwood, BU's defensive coordinator who came from Penn State and knows Taylor's family.

If Taylor had any big-timer attitude from having started as a sophomore at Penn State, Lake said, it never showed.

“He paid his dues,'' Lake said. “He had a great redshirt year, got stronger and lost some weight (down 25 pounds from 380). He'll do anything for us.''

As for Watkins, he is the kind of off-the-beaten-path prospect Briles learned to recruit while coaching at Texas Tech and Houston.

Watkins has won over teammates with his sense of humor and his rough-and-tumble way of going about business.

“He's funny, but he's real serious when the ball is snapped,'' Griffin said. “He was a firefighter, and when you get in the heat of a situation, you've got to be serious because lives are at stake.''

After a pause, Griffin wryly added: “He knows my life is at stake on the field, so he's going to protect me. If he gets his hands on you, you're not going anywhere.''

For a team that went 4-8 last season and is 13-91 all-time in Big 12 play, all of this talk of bowl games and potential All-Americans and first-round draft choices is a lot to swallow.

For now, at least one person agrees: Coach Briles.

“We've got to turn the hype into happen,'' he said. “We can't just operate on hope and want. We've got to operate on reality and results.''

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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