Baylor Transfer Target Malik Hornsby's Potential is Sky-High
Baylor needs a shake-up.
Just a year removed from a Big 12 title and Sugar Bowl victory, the Bears finished with a losing record for the second time in three years. They lost four straight games to end the season.
No collapse is monocausal, and there are a number of reasons for Baylor’s late-season struggles, but most prominent among them is the lack of late-season production from under center.
Blake Shapen's season was a tale of two halves:
— Jackson Posey ✞ (@ByJacksonPosey) December 26, 2022
First six games: 68.5%, 8.9 Y/A, 13 total TDs, 3 INTs
Final seven games: 59.2%, 6.5 Y/A, 7 TDs, 7 INTs
The shift came after a Thursday night loss to West Virginia, when Shapen endured a head injury. He started the following week.
Shapen has the talent to play at a high level and did so in the Big 12 championship game and throughout the first half of this year. But given his late-season struggles, it would be irresponsible for the Bears to not bring in another quarterback, especially considering their critical lack of depth at the position.
Enter Malik Hornsby, KJ Jefferson’s backup at Arkansas and a former four-star recruit from Fort Bend (TX) Marshall.
Hornsby has a history with Baylor. According to 247 Sports, he came “very close” to committing to the Bears in 2019, before Matt Rhule left to coach the Carolina Panthers. He eventually wound up at Arkansas, and the rest is history.
It would’ve been a major win for Baylor to sign Hornsby in 2020. At the time, he was the eighth-ranked dual-quarterback in the 247 Sports Composite, just above Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson and Georgia Tech (now Nebraska) quarterback Jeff Sims. But signing him in 2023 would be just as significant.
Even in limited playing time, Hornsby has put his elite athleticism on display in Fayetteville. He’s always been fast, running a 10.88 100-meter and 22.39 200-meter as a junior in high school, and he’s only gotten faster. Even with an established starter at quarterback, Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks wanted to get his speed on the field – so they experimented with him at wide receiver.
“Actually good to be able to get him in there for his speed," running back Raheim Sanders told the media. "He’s a good quarterback, but I feel like you can put him at any position, and he can execute it just with his speed and IQ of the game."
In 15 games at Arkansas, Hornsby completed 18 of 39 passes for 314 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He also ran 57 times for 307 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for eight yards.
A major factor for Baylor’s offensive struggles this season was the presence of a non-rushing threat at quarterback. Last season, Gerry Bohanon rushed for 323 yards and nine touchdowns; Shapen followed that up by rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns, both in blowout victories (Albany and Texas State). Football is moving towards a dual-threat era, and Hornsby would immediately become the most dynamic quarterback in the Big 12.
In a recent Instagram Live, he announced his top three schools: UNLV, Baylor, and Nebraska. UNLV isn’t in the Power Five, but the Rebels hired former Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom to be its head coach earlier this month. Nebraska is captained by Rhule, who has a pre-existing relationship with Hornsby, but Sims committed to the Huskers last week. And then there are the Bears.
Hornsby, who has up to three years of eligibility remaining, would be the highest-ranked Baylor quarterback since Jarrett Stidham. And he could pose significant problems for opposing defenses, which have already struggled to contain Jeff Grimes’ complex rushing scheme.
There are certainly quarterbacks in the portal who are more proven at the college level – Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong, Boise State’s Hank Bachmeier – but Hornsby has the highest ceiling of any transfer quarterback this side of Grayson McCall.
He's raw as a passer, but Hornsby the potential to become one of the most electric signal-callers in the country and would be a massive addition for a Baylor team desperate to find some juice.
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