Athletic Tight End Hawkins Polley Signs With Baylor Bears
More than a year after he first committed to Baylor, three-star tight end Hawkins Polley officially signed with the Bears on National Signing Day Wednesday.
Polley, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound prospect out of Houston Stratford (TX), chose Baylor over offers from USC, Vanderbilt and Houston, among others. Polley is primarily a receiving threat, with a frame that could lend itself to future blocking success.
It’s rare that a high school tight end plays a starring role in a team’s offensive scheme, but Polley fits that bill. In three seasons as a starter, Polley caught 87 passes for 1,256 yards and 21 touchdowns, earning first team all-district honors the final two years. And, like any good tight end prospect, he plays basketball.
Coleman joins a young tight end room that is underclassman-heavy behind Ben Sims and Drake Dabney. Matthew Klopfenstein (Scottsdale Horizon, AZ) is also scheduled to sign his letter of intent on Wednesday. They’ll join current freshmen Kelsey Johnson and Cody Mladenka, as the Bears attempt to transition to the next generation of tight ends.
Tight ends play a big role in Jeff Grimes’ run-first offense, which features plenty of complex blocking schemes and short passing concepts. Whether Polley can earn playing time early on remains to be seen, but he certainly has the athletic ability to do so.
Before the signing window opened on Wednesday, Baylor’s recruiting class ranked No. 25 in the 247 Sports Composite. That’s third-best among new Big 12 teams, behind only TCU (No. 18) and Texas Tech (No. 24).
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