New Baylor Bears RB Dominic Richardson Provides Huge Missing Piece
When former Oklahoma State Cowboy running back Dominic Richardson committed to the Baylor Bears last week, Jeff Grimes' offense added the punch at the position they sorely missed in the 6-7 campaign this year.
The running game actually was not bad for the Bears this year and they have a solid future with Richard Reese. With Reese as a true freshman, however, he just lacked a little bit of the size and mature game that made the reliable, violent offense (RVO) so darn effective in the 2021 Big 12 championship season.
In Richardson, the Bears are getting something they couldn't replace in 2022. They are getting the next Abram Smith.
I think Baylor fans are gonna like Dominic Richardson in the backfield this year.
— Cam Stuart (@realcamstuart) December 29, 2022
He gives the Bears something they really missed in 2022…an Abram Smith. pic.twitter.com/lJNhgP2Xby
Richardson was banged up in 2022 and missed nearly half the season but at his best, he is a straight-up violent runner. The Bears had their quick guy (Sqwirl Williams), their downhill bell cow (Reese), and their true bruiser (Qualan Jones) but no one that could quite combine the elements of all three roles like Richardson can.
Unlike Smith in 2021, Richardson likely won't have as strong or as dominant an offensive line, but his physicality could make up for it. Unlike Reese or Jones, Richardson can hit the hole and drag guys with him.
With the exception of the Homecoming win over the Kansas Jayhawks and the win against the Oklahoma Sooners, the two worst rushing defenses in the conference, the Bears really struggled to close out games on the ground this year. They had no such problem with Smith in the backfield getting the tough extra yards to move the chains and close out Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas, BYU, and others in 2021.
Physically, they are practically the same. Smith bulked up to 221 pounds as a linebacker to add to his 5'11" frame, and Richardson stands at 6'0" and 210 pounds. This is more the mold of the physical every down back, rather than Reese, who only stands at 5'9" and 175 pounds.
Again, Reese is going to be a very effective back in this system for years to come. In 2023, however, he will get more time to bulk up and have less of a workload, as getting almost 200 carries as a true freshman seemed to take its toll late in the season.
There were plenty of other factors that made the Bears so successful in 2021, but their offense started and ended with the violent and effective rushing attack Smith provided. On the football field, Richardson looks like a spitting image of Smith, something Bears fans can get excited about.
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Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.