Baylor Finishes NFL Draft With Most Players Drafted of Any Texas School
Coming off of a Big 12 championship victory, and a dominant win over Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl last season, Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears seem to be on an upward trajectory, equal to, or perhaps even greater than their success under former coach Art Briles.
And as a result of that tremendous season, the Bears were well represented in the recent 2022 NFL Draft.
How well-represented you may ask? Better than any college program in the state.
Throughout all three days of the draft, the Bears had six players selected, more than any other team in Texas, and tied for the seventh most in the draft of any school overall.
Baylor also was responsible for almost a fourth of the players selected from the Big 12 overall and matched the 2016 program record for most players selected in a seven-round NFL Draft.
Things began with safety Jalen Pitre being selected by the Texans at No. 37 overall in the second round, with wide receiver Tyquan Thornton going just 13 picks later at No 50 overall to the New England Patriots.
The Los Angeles Chargers would then select safety J.T. Woods in the third round with the 79th overall pick. At No. 89 overall, the Buffalo Bills finished the Bears' day in Day 2 by selecting linebacker Terrel Bernard.
On Day 3, Running back Trestan Ebner was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 10th pick of the sixth round, while corner Kalon Barnes was taken by the Carolina Panthers in Round 7. Five more Baylor standouts would also be signed as undrafted free agents following the close of the seventh round.
Abram Smith was the most noteworthy, signing with the New Orleans Saints, while defense backs Jairon McVay and Raleigh Smith Texada signed with the Rams and Packers, respectively. Finally, wideout Drew Estrada signed with the Texans, and offensive lineman Xavier Newman-Johnson signed with the Titans.
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Matt Galatzan the Editor-In-Chief of InsideTheBears.com, TheGroveReport.com, RamDigest.com, AllSeahawks.com, and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels. For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com