Four Bears Earn Preseason Athlon All-America Accolades

Tue Jul 1 08:36:29 CDT 2025

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – June 1, 2025

Four Bears Earn Preseason Athlon All-America Accolades
Cameron, Thomas, Washington, Williams Honored

For more information contact: Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651, brent_ingram at baylor.edu<mailto:brent_ingram at baylor.edu>  or Max Calderone; 254-265-1639, max_calderone at baylor.edu<mailto:max_calderone at baylor.edu> or Matt Roberts; 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas -- Four Baylor football standouts have been named preseason All-America and 12 Bears earned preseason All-Big 12 Conference honors, it was announced by Athlon Sports.

Punt returner Josh Cameron (first team), linebacker Keaton Thomas (fourth team), running back Bryson Washington (third team) and punter Palmer Williams (third team) each earned preseason All-America honors from the publication.

In addition, 12 Bears earned preseason All-Big 12 honors, including first-team honorees Cameron, Thomas, Washington and Williams. Cameron was also named preseason second-team all-league at wide receiver, along with fellow second-team selections in tight end Michael Trigg, offensive lineman Omar Aigbedion and defensive lineman Jackie Marshall. Quarterback Sawyer Robertson was named third-team All-Big 12 Conference, with fourth-team selections including linebacker Travion Barnes, offensive lineman Ryan Lengyel, cornerback Caden Jenkins and offensive lineman Coleton Price.

Cameron, a 6-foot-1, 218-pound force at wide receiver, earns preseason All-America honors after CBS Sports and the Football Writers Association named him a 2024 All-America as a punt returner. He also earned All-Big 12 Conference honors at wide receiver. He returned 14 punts for 290 yards, an average of 20.7 yards per return, which would have led the nation but finished just short of the NCAA threshold for punt returns to qualify, which was a product of opponents over the last four games not allowing him to return a punt. He started all 13 games at wide receiver and lead the team with catches (52), yards (754) and TDs (10), while totaling four 100+ yard games. His 10 TDs ranked top 10 in the nation in single-season Baylor history, and he finished his junior season ranked as the BU career leader in punt return average.

A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Thomas had one of the best defensive seasons in BU history in 2024, his debut season as a Bear, after All-America honors in junior college in 2023. He earned All-Big 12 honors after starting all 13 games at inside linebacker and charting 114 tackles – No. 25 in the nation – with seven for a loss, with 2.5 sacks, three QB hurries and an interception taken for a touchdown. He had four games with 10+ tackles and while teaming with Matt Jones, became the first Baylor linebackers to go over 100 tackles each since 2012.

Washington, a 6-0, 203-pound running back out of Franklin, Texas, cruised to freshman All-America honors by The Athletic and the FWAA in 2024, while breaking the program record for freshman rushing yards. He played in just 11 games, and was injured in the opening minutes of the Texas Bowl, but rushed for 1,028 yards with 12 rushing TDs. He had six 100+ yard games, the most by any freshmen in program history, and caught 22 balls for 217 yards and a TD. His breakout games included 10 rushes for 116 yards and two TDs 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, 113 yards rushing at Houston and 28 rushes for 192 yards and two TDs vs. Kansas.

Williams, a native of Advance, N.C., had the best punting season in college football, and the best in Baylor storied punting history, in 2024. He averaged 49.35 yards per punt on 43 punts, which among those who punted at least 2.5 times per game in 2024, led the nation. His average was the best in BU single-season history and his career mark of 46.53 would rank tops in school career history. He had 28 punts of 50+ yards, 15 of his 43 punts were downed inside the 20, six were fair caught and BU ranked No. 8 in the NCAA in net punting average. He had a breakout game at Utah, punting six times for an average of 62.7 yards per punt, with a long of 79 and two downed inside the 20-yard line.

Baylor’s all-conference honorees by Athlon include second-year starting offensive guard Omar Aibedion, who earned preseason first-team accolades from Phil Steele. Barnes, the 2024 Conference USA Player of the Year at FIU, totaled 129 tackles and 11 TFLs last year before transferring to the Bears. Jenkins, a junior out of Lewisville, was named a freshman All-America at corner in 2023, and broke up five passes and had an interception last year.

Lengyel emerged as a force in his first year as a starter at guard in 2024, and Price was in his second year as the starting center, with the duo helping Baylor’s offensive line improve from No. 112 in 2023 in offensive line efficiency rating to No. 6 nationally. BU’s offensive line returns four starters from that unit in 2025.

Marshall, a 6-3, 290-pound product of LaPlace, La., started 13 games on the defensive line last year, finishing with 42 tackles, 6.5 for a loss, three sacks, five QB hurries and a forced fumble, while logging a team-high 22 QB pressures. Marshall emerged as a weapon as a redshirt freshman at outside linebacker, and after suffering a season-ending injury in the spring before the 2023 season, had a breakout 2024 season.

Robertson, Baylor's QB1, had a breakout season in 2024. He threw for 3,071 yards with 28 TDs and just eight interceptions, completing 62.2 percent of his passes, also rushing 63 times for 230 yards with four TDs. He ranked among the tops in program single-season history in passing efficiency, passing yards, completions, completion percentages, TDs and TD-interception ratio. He had four 300+ yard passing games and threw for a career-high 445 yards with two TDs vs. LSU in the Texas Bowl.

A native of Tampa, Fla., Trigg was one of the nation's top tight ends in 2024, his debut season after transferring from Ole Miss and Southern Cal. A 6-4, 246-pounder, he played in 11 games with five starts, totaling 30 catches for 395 yards and three TDs. He sported the second-best offensive grade according to Pro Football Focus on the club. A former top-150 recruit out of high school, Trigg had his best game of the year in a four-catch, 96-yard effort at Houston.

Baylor opens its 2025 season on Aug. 29, hosting Auburn at 7 p.m. on FOX and the Baylor Sports Media Network.

Preseason Accolades

Omar Aigbedion, OG

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason Second-Team All-Texas (DCTF)

Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Travion Barnes, LB

Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason Second-Team All-Texas (DCTF)

Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Josh Cameron, WR/PR

Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12, WR (Phil Steele)

Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12, PR (Phil Steele)

Preseason First-Team All-Texas, WR (DCTF)

Preseason First-Team All-America, PR (Athlon)

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12, PR (Athlon)

Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12, WR (Athlon)

Sidney Fugar, OL

Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Caden Jenkins, CB

Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Ryan Lengyel, OL

Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Jackie Marshall, DL

Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason Second-Team All-Texas (DCTF)

Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Coleton Price, OL

Preseason Fourth-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Sawyer Robertson, QB

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason Second-Team All-Texas (DCTF)

Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Keaton Thomas, LB

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason Fourth-Team All-America (Phil Steele)

Preseason First-Team All-Texas (DCTF)

Preseason Fourth-Team All-America (Athlon)

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Michael Trigg, TE

Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason Second-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Bryson Washington, RB

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason First-Team All-Texas (DCTF)

Preseason Third-Team All-America (Athlon)

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

Palmer Williams, P

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)

Preseason Second-Team All-America (Phil Steele)

Preseason Third-Team All-America (Athlon)

Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon)

- BaylorBears.com -

--
Brent Ingram | Associate AD for Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 210-845-8651

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