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Big 12 spotlight: Which school is recruiting king at each position?

The Big 12 is joined by the Pac-12 as the most prolific offensive conferences in college football, and both continue to recruit at a high level in that regard. Since the Big 12 moved to the 10 teams that currently comprise the conference beginning in the 2012 season, certain programs have established themselves as leaders in recruiting specific positions more successfully than the rest.

Here’s a look at programs that have developed identities as leaders recruiting specific positions since leading into the conference’s last realignment.

MORE IN THIS SERIES: Big Ten | SEC | ACC | Pac-12

QUARTERBACK: Baylor

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Seth Russell
Seth Russell (AP Images)

The Bears get the nod thanks in part to a little bump from Robert Griffin III’s last few seasons as a starter, but the move to Bryce Petty was key - especially following his stellar 2014 season. Griffin was a four-star recruit, but Baylor's vision to know Petty was capable of his junior and senior seasons (61 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions) as a three-star quarterback from nearby Midlothian was brilliant. Finding similar success the following season with Seth Russell in 2015 after he ended his high school career as a three-star quarterback as well was equally as impressive. Flash forward to this season and the promise Zach Smith showed to close out last year under less-than-ideal circumstances, after being a four-star prospect himself, and that gives new head coach Matt Rhule something to work with in his first season at the helm.

RUNNING BACK: Texas

D'onta Foreman
D'onta Foreman (AP Images)

Rivals.com has caught a lot of flack for what turned out to be a mis-evaluation of D’Onta Foreman. Foreman finished his high school career pegged as a two-star recruit, but went on to rush for more than 2,000 yards last year en route to Heisman Trophy consideration and being selected 89th overall in this year’s NFL Draft. Oklahoma could make a compelling case for itself as well, particularly after its latest duo of Joe Mixon and Semaje Perine. The Longhorns, however, return former four-star Chris Warren this season and have added four-star Toneil Carter out of the 2017 class. Before any of those players showed up in Austin, current NFL journeyman Johnathan Gray was a threat for three seasons between 2012-2014 as well.

WIDE RECEIVER: Baylor

KD Cannon
KD Cannon (AP Images)

Perhaps this is somewhat of a chicken-or-the-egg discussion, but during the same stretch that the Bears’ quarterbacks have been a strong group, so too have their receivers. The recent pairing of KD Cannon and Corey Coleman gets a lot of attention, but by 2013 Antwan Goodley had emerged as a solid receiving threat as well. Prior to that trio, Levi Norwood and Tevin Reese were part of high-powered passing offenses and helped establish Baylor’s identity as a high-scoring juggernaut. In similar fashion to Baylor, Texas Tech’s offense has helped receivers stack up a ton of yards as well, and current recruits still talk about emulating the ability and production of Jakeem Grant, but the Bears have succeeded in finding a number of receivers that thrived in Kendall Briles’ offense.

LINEMEN: Kansas State

Jordan Willis
Jordan Willis (AP Images)

It seems fitting that perhaps the lone conference team not associated with flinging the ball around on offense or neglecting to defend the pass is the benchmark for linemen recruiting within the league. The Wildcats’ offensive line group from 2013-2015 was anchored by Cody Whitehair, B.J. Finney and Boston Stiverson. The defensive line group has been strong in recent years as well, most recently with Jordan Willis, which has helped give the Wildcats one of the conference’s top units. Assembling the cast of Adam Davis, Meshak Williams and Vai Lutui as junior college transfers produced the league’s top unit back in 2012 as well.

LINEBACKER: Oklahoma

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (AP Images)

The Sooners’ tandem in the 2014 and 2015 seasons of Eric Striker and Dominique Alexander was as strong of a one-two punch in the middle of the defense as the Big 12 has had in the last six years. With a name like Striker, how could the former Rivals250 prospect be anything else at his position? During those seasons, Alexander racked up 212 total tackles and Striker made 34.5 of his 45 career tackles for loss. Before pulling in an athletic bunch at linebacker in 2017, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo became one of the more recent faces of the Sooner defense and broke out last season with nine sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Baylor was the sneaky runner-up at the position over recent years thanks to Bryce Hager, whose younger brother, Breckyn Hager, now plays for Texas.

DEFENSIVE BACK: TCU

Sam Carter
Sam Carter (AP Images)

The most talented group of TCU defensive backs all in one place in recent memory was likely 2014, when the quartet of Derrick Kindred, Sam Carter, Chris Hackett and Kevin White combined for 17 interceptions - seven from Hackett alone. Carter likely could have been the most important player in the secondary during his time with the Horned Frogs. He plucked 12 interceptions in his final three seasons, as he was held without one during his first season. The door has swung open for Kasnas State as well over the last few seasons, and despite a year plagued by giving up some long passes, Texas had its share of some strong prospects as well recently.

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