2012 Big 12 Returning Offensive Firepower

Let’s take a look at the returning offensive statistics for Big 12 offenses to see who will have the best chance to pick up where they left off and who will be re-tooling the most in 2012.

*TPY= 2011 total passing yards

*RPY= Passing Yards from 2011 for players returning in 2012

It always seems like there is a lot of returning QB play each year in the Big 12. This year Heisman Trophy winner RG3 and Brandon Weeden exit stage left but there is still a lot of talent. The names that pop out at you immediately are Landry Jones and Collin Klein. In addition to those two names, the two new teams bring very good QBs in Geno Smith and Casey Pachall. Oklahoma, West Virginia, TCU and Kansas State look the best at this spot. Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas will have the biggest concerns this spring as they search for someone to become their leader.

*TRY= 2011 Total Rushing Yards

*RRY= Rushing Yards from 2011 for players returning in 2012

The numbers tell us that 80% of the leagues rushing yardage is returning this season (not including A&M and Missouri). Last season, there were only two seniors included in the Top 20 rushers in the Big 12 (Terrance Ganaway of Baylor and Cyrus Gray of A&M). Looking at the rushing and passing returners so far you will notice that Baylor and Kansas are in the bottom two in both categories, they will need to find some play-makers this spring. 

*RRY= Receiving yards from 2011 for players returning in 2012

*TRY= Total Receiving Yards from 2011

The top four leaders in receiving yardage in the Big 12 in 2011 are gone (one of them exiting to the SEC). The next two on the list both play for Baylor (Terrance Williams and Tevin Reece) and will need to have huge years for the Bears not to take a gigantic step back with the loss of RG3, Ganaway and Kendall Wright. Kansas State at the top here is a little bit deceiving as they really don’t throw the ball a lot. Also, Texas at #2 here is in the same boat as Kansas State. Both teams got the benefit of having the most returning offense in our rankings but they also had the amount of yardage they produced counted against them. A team to watch is West Virginia. They will be in the second year under Holgersen, return 100% of their passing yardage and 77% of their receiving yards.

RETURNING OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER RANKING:

I took into account not only the percentage of production returning for the three metrics above but I also took into account how much total yardage was returning at each position and how that ranked in the conference. This ranking shows who has the most production returning from last year. Does that mean they will be the best? Not necessarily. You also have to factor in new additions, players returning from injury, complementary positions (ex: if a teams OL play isn’t as good as last year then they will have a tough time duplicating the same statistics) and guys that will step up possibly be better than the player that they replace as well as the coaching staffs and how well they will utilize the players based on their abilities. 

#1 West Virginia- 49 points

#2 TCU- 47 points

#3 Iowa State- 41 points

#4 Oklahoma- 40 points

#5 Kansas State- 38 points

#6 Texas Tech- 37 points

#7 Texas- 33 points

#8 Oklahoma State- 22 points

#9 Baylor- 17 points

#10 Kansas- 13 points