CATCHING ON

Editor's note: this feature first appeared in the Baylor football vs. Oklahoma State game program on Oct. 26.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Watching fellow Baylor wide receiver Hal Presley's highlight reel from Mansfield Summitt High School, Ketron Jackson Jr. turns into fan boy.

"This is crazy! Mr. Deep Ball," Jackson said of the 6-3, 210-pound Presley, a senior who has hauled in 67 passes for 854 yards and six touchdowns in his four-year career with the Bears.

Comparing him to Pittsburgh Steelers receiver George Pickens, Jackson said "you can put the ball anywhere, and he's going to catch it. Hal turns into a different man on the field. He's got a lot of confidence, and that rubs off on me."

Presley and Jackson, who transferred from Arkansas last season, are part of a deep corps of senior receivers that includes Monaray Baldwin and transfers Ashtyn Hawkins from Texas State and Jamaal Bell from Nevada.

"Our goal is to be the best wide receiver corps in the nation," said Baldwin, who has the best numbers in a Baylor uniform with 83 career catches for 1,330 yards and 10 touchdowns. "I feel like we've got the guys to do it. We just have to go out and put the work in to reach that goal. I feel like we really have the ability. (Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital) makes it easy for us."

Other than fourth-year junior Josh Cameron, who has a team-high 24 catches for 352 yards and seven touchdowns, Presley has arguably benefited the most from the emergence of redshirt junior quarterback Sawyer Robertson. He had a career-high eight catches for 82 yards in the loss to BYU and hauled in a 35-yard TD pass in the Bears' 59-35 rout of Texas Tech.

"I feel like as soon as he got here, back when Blake (Shapen) was still here, we just clicked," Presley said. "I was throwing more with Sawyer than I was with Blake, so we just built a connection. And every time we're on the field, I feel like he tries to find me the best he can. And I appreciate him for that."

A four-star receiver coming out of Royse City (Texas) High School, Jackson played in 25 games with eight starts in two seasons at Arkansas, but he put up modest numbers with 21 catches for 374 yards and four touchdowns.

Last year, he became one of the Bears' most reliable receivers, starting all 10 games he played while hauling in 28 passes for 489 yards.

"It all starts with confidence," said third-year receivers coach Dallas Baker. "We're trying to make (Jackson) him believe he's Superman. 'Look, I need you to be more consistent with contested catches, higher percentages on 50/50 balls and be the guy who I know you could be.' I told him, 'If you want to take care of your mom, that's what I need you to work on.'''

Off to a slow start, with just four catches in the first five games, Jackson had a breakthrough game in the road loss at Iowa State before sitting out the Tech game with an injury. Against the Cyclones, he had five catches for 66 yards and scored on a 25-yard TD grab that gave the Bears their last lead, 21-19, early in the third quarter.

"I just felt like the ball found me," Jackson said.

Following last year's 3-9 finish, Jackson and Presley "talked a lot about what we expected from each other this year and what we needed to work on."

"We put a lot of time in before, so we knew, no matter what, we've got a new OC (offensive coordinator), you've got new coaches, we're going to go in there and be ourselves but obviously better," he said. "Me and Hal, we loved it. We just went out there every day and played our hardest. For me, it was like a little test. They said you have to earn your spot back, but I just made sure I did what I needed to and just be as consistent as I can."

Playing for Spavital in three of his four years at Texas State, Hawkins set program records with 141 receptions for 1,745 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. This year, he is second on the Baylor team with 20 catches for 272 yards and two TDs.

"Ashtyn is just crazy. Like, he can do a lot of stuff," Presley said. "He's fast, he can jump, he can catch. And he's like 5-10, maybe, but his hands are huge. His hands are bigger than ours."

Baldwin said the speedy Hawkins has "probably the best hands I've ever seen in my life."

"I'm not the shiftiest guy in the world, and I feel like he's up there. So, I'll be trying to take some moves out of his bag and put them into my bag."

Baker referred to Hawkins as "just a dog."

"He is a fiery guy, very athletic, can jump out of the gym," Baker said.

When Baldwin, who's also a threat on kick returns and reverses, is "playing full speed, it's hard to do anything with him," Jackson said.

"He can get open, he runs routes very well, and you can get him the ball anywhere," Jackson said. "He's kind of like (Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill), where you can just get him the ball. Not comparing, but Monaray can do a lot of the same things."

Much like he did in his four years at Nevada, Bell has made his biggest impact with the Bears on kickoff returns. He ranks first in the Big 12 and fifth nationally with a 28.2-yard average, highlighted by a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the conference opener at Colorado.

With the versatility to also line up at running back – he rushed for 25 yards on three carries in the win over Tech – Bell is comparable to the San Francisco 49ers' Deebo Samuel, Jackson said.

"You've just got to get the ball in his hands," Jackson said. "When you have speed like that, you can't really coach that."

Presley and Jackson are both hoping for a shot at the next level. One NFL scout assessed that the 6-3, 205-pound Jackson has "good athletic ability with very good foot speed, good acceleration, lateral agility alongside solid balance and adequate fluidity."

"Of course, it's nice to get drafted," Jackson said, "but a lot of dudes that get drafted, how long do they last? Hal and I talked about it, we're trying to get the opportunity and make sure that we last. God willing, but I know that if I get the opportunity, I'm going to make the most of it."

While Presley has the same NFL aspirations, he wants to "rack up these wins and get in a bowl game, for sure."

"There's got to be belief," Presley said. "We say that all the time, just to everybody. That's the thing, though, it's not just like one group, we're saying it to the whole team."

Players Mentioned

Monaray Baldwin

Jamaal Bell

Josh Cameron

Ashtyn Hawkins

Ketron Jackson Jr.

Hal Presley

Sawyer Robertson

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