Baylor Bears well represented for major Big 12 preseason honor

After an 8-5 record in 2024 -- with winning the last six regular-season games -- the Baylor Bears are looking to cement themselves as one of the top teams in the Big 12.

Of any conference in college football, the Big 12 may have the most parity, meaning any team could come out on top.

In order to win games in the Big 12, teams need star players.

According to the recent preseason Big 12 All-Conference team , the Bears have some of those stars.

Media members who cover the Big 12 voted on the All-Conference team, and four Baylor players made the one and only team: RB Bryson Washington WR Josh Cameron (voted as KR/PR) LB Keaton Thomas P Palmer Williams Arizona State led all schools with five players selected.

Here is Baylor's press release on its All-Conference selections: Baylor football's Josh Cameron , Keaton Thomas , Bryson Washington and Palmer Williams have been named to the 2025 Preseason All-Big 12 Team, as voted on by the league's media and announced Monday.

BU's four honors are the second-most in the conference, trailing only 2024 champion Arizona State's five picks.

The Bears are the only team in the Big 12 with an offensive, defensive and special teams representative on the preseason team.

Cameron collected the league's punt returner/kick returner spot after an All-America campaign as a return man in 2024.

He returned 14 punts for 290 yards, an average of 20.7 yards per return, which would have led the nation but finished just shy of the NCAA threshold for punt returns to qualify, a product of opponents not allowing him to return a punt over the last four games of the season.

A native of Cedar Park, Texas, Cameron also garnered All-Big 12 praise as a wide receiver a year ago.

After starting all 13 games, he led the Bears with 52 receptions, 754 yards and 10 touchdowns, while totaling four 100+ yard performances.

His 10 scores ranked inside the top 10 in Baylor single-season history, and he finished his junior season ranked as BU's career leader in punt return average.

A product of Jacksonville, Fla., Thomas was one of three linebackers selected to the league's preseason team.

He earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in his debut season with BU in 2024, starting all 13 games at inside linebacker and racking up 114 tackles, including seven for a loss and 2.5 sacks.

He added three quarterback hurries and returned an interception for a touchdown.

Thomas had four games with double-digit tackles and teamed with Matt Jones to become the first BU linebacker duo since 2012 to each eclipse 100 tackles.

His 114 stops ranked 25th in the nation a year ago.

Washington, a 6-0, 203-pound running back out of Franklin, Texas, rolled to Freshman All-America status in 2024 after shattering the program's freshman rushing record.

He is one of two Big 12 backs named to the preseason team.

Washington played in just 11 games but ran for 1,028 yards with 12 TDs, logged six 100+ yard performances, the most by any freshman in program history, and caught 22 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown.

His standout games included 10 carries for 116 yards and two scores in a beatdown of Texas Tech in Lubbock, four TDs and 218 all-purpose yards in a win over TCU, 18 rushes for 123 yards and four total TDs at West Virginia and 28 totes for 192 yards and two scores vs.

Kansas.

Baylor's dynamite punter, Williams was named a preseason All-America choice earlier this summer as the top punter in the Big 12.

A native of Advance, N.C., Williams had the best punting season in college football last season, and the best in Baylor history, averaging 49.35 yards per punt on 43 punts, a mark which led the nation among those who punted at least 2.5 times per game in 2024.

His average was the best in BU single-season history and his career mark of 46.53 would rank tops in school history as it stands.

Williams had 28 punts of at least 50 yards, with 15 of his 43 boots downed inside the 20.

He burst onto the scene with a massive Week 2 game at Utah, punting six times for a 62.7-yard per punt average that included a career long of 79 yards.

- Enjoy more Baylor Bears coverage on Baylor Bears On SI - More News: Baylor Bears make final three for 'dynamic' 2026 wide receiver target Everything Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said on the main stage at Big 12 Media Days.

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