Arkansas State’s Omar Bayless: The Most Disrespected WR On Earth

The nation’s leading receiver is have trouble gaining the respect of the establishment.

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Four years ago, the following video appeared in my Twitter feed:

@HowlYes @AStateFanRules pic.twitter.com/LPoUUGjKQj

— Matt Shadeed (@CoachMShadeed) November 22, 2015

Omar Bayless, a freshman WR and 3-star recruit from Mississippi, executing a flatfooted backflip. At six-foot-three, that was pretty damned impressive. Right away, I became a fan of Bayless. The next season, I wrote this about him:

I had jumped the gun a bit. In 2016, Bayless recorded 117 yards and a single touchdown. In fact, for the next three seasons, Bayless would wait his turn, quietly doing his job while Kirk Merrit and Dijon Paschal and Justin McInnis received the spotlight. But then he did this against Georgia Southern:

#TBT to Omar Bayless' go ahead Touchdown with 1️⃣4️⃣ seconds left in the ball game to beat Georgia Southern. #WolvesUp

pic.twitter.com/DJ03kqTqMA

— Arkansas State Football (@AStateFB) May 30, 2019

In 2017, he did it again. The One Handed Catch became a Bayless speciality, reminding us that he was by far the most freakish athlete on the team. He has size. He has speed. He has strength. Most importantly, he has supernatural ability to power through the play after the catch, pushing the defenders aside the Black Friday shoppers at Walmart.

“𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨”
That’s just @omar_bayless making plays.

The Nation’s Leading Receiver
All-American Candidate
Record Breaking Receiver
& still available for the @Shrine_Bowl or @NFLPABowl
#WolvesUp X #NOW
pic.twitter.com/9wSapg0ZMh

— Arkansas State Football (@AStateFB) November 25, 2019

This season, Bayless put up the numbers (and circus catches) to catch the attention of the Biletnikoff Award List and even garner some goodnatured Heisman talk.  As of today, Bayless leads the nation in receiving yards and is tied for the lead in touchdowns. As if that were not enough, he’s blocked two punts.

In recent years, I’ve seen a number of great receivers in the Sun Belt: J.D. McKissic, Penny Hart and Jaleel Scott come to mind. Bayless is better than all of them. Layne Hatcher, freshman QB for Arkansas State, merely has to toss the ball in his general direction. Bayless makes the plays.

And yet, the disrespect.

This week, the leading receiver in the NCAA was not a finalist for the Biletnikoff. This isn’t a surprise. Post season awards are for the Privileged Five. But the lack of invitation from the Senior Bowl has not only been puzzling – it’s been downright insulting.

Actually, they do. Tape don’t.

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) November 24, 2019

Jim Nagy, Executive Director of the Senior Bowl, doesn’t see much talent in the nation’s leading receiver. He sees more talent in a whopping nine other candidates. The only G5 wide receiver with an invite is Antonio Grandy-Gordon from Liberty. Devin Duvernay from Texas has 8 fewer touchdowns than Bayless. Chase Claypool of Notre Dame has more than 700 fewer yards. And how do you justify Vanderbilt’s Kalija Lipscomb (468 yards, 2 TDs) on this roster? How is the nation’s leading receiver omitted from this team – and bad-mouthed by the bowl’s executive director?

By my count, eight players from the Group of Five have accepted invites to the Senior Bowl (including three from the Sun Belt). That’s about 9% of the roster. Aside from a few FCS invites, the rest belong to the nation’s wealthy programs. It’s clear where the Senior Bowl’s allegiances lie – not with talent.

Omar Bayless is the nation’s best wide receiver. Too bad being the best doesn’t mean much anymore.

A former notary public, Jeremy Harper is a professional writer and Chief Instigator for Storm the Castle Creative. He spends much of his free time staring blankly into space. 

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The 2019 Season is a Triumph for the Arkansas State Red Wolves

No matter what happens against South Alabama on Saturday, this season was special. Here’s why:

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The Red Wolves enter the last game of the 2019 regular season 7-4 and eliminated from the divisional title. By recent standards, the record alone rates a C+. And yet, the season is a triumph. A monument to perseverance. A benchmark for future Red Wolves teams to follow. Why?

Consider, the Red Wolves have won seven games despite:

• Losing Wendy Anderson to cancer
• Losing two Sun Belt All-Conference First Team defenders for the season
• Losing a starting QB who was having a break-out season
• Losing 10  players to season-ending injuries, including  Ryan Graham (RB), Isaiah Azubuike (RB), Logan Bonner (QB), Forrest Merrill (DL), Hunter Moreton (DL), Jerry Jacobs (CB), Tony Adams (DL) and Thomas Toki (DL)

Consider what the Red Wolves have gained along with those seven victories:

• A wide receiver who leads the nation in yards and TDs and is a Biletnikoff Award semi-finalist
• A freshman QB who stepped into the starting roll without blinking
• A wide receiver squad featuring three of the top five pass catchers in the Sun Belt
• A 9th consecutive year of bowl eligibility

The obstacle-to-achievement ratio is extraordinary. The Red Wolves passing attack is ranked 15th in the nation without the services of Dahu Green. Step-in quarterback Layne Hatcher ranks third in the Sun Belt for passing yards and second for TDs despite having only seven starts. Omar Bayless, he who leads the nation in receiving, also leads the nation in blocked punts. Even with a decimated defense, William Bradley-King leads the Sun Belt in sacks. Darreon Jackson leads the Sun Belt in tackles.

This is a team that was two special-team snafus from defeating a nationally ranked SMU. This is a team that could have crumbled when struggling against Coastal Carolina and still gritted out a win. This is a team that put the brakes on Georgia Southern’s triple option, and this is the team that flew into Las Vegas and stomped UNLV. This is a team that adjusted to an entirely new staff and has now rolled off four straight victories.

Most of all, the enormous weight of Blake Anderson’s trials cannot be understated. If you’re married, imagine plowing through the thankless grind of a college football season under these sad circumstances – and winning. Rather than selling all his worldly possessions and becoming a lumberjack in Alaska, Coach Anderson found solace and strength with his second family – the Red Wolves. We should be grateful and in awe. This season is a triumph for Blake’s courage alone.

Take joy in this season, Red Wolves fans. The team and its coach has earned it.

A former notary public, Jeremy Harper is a professional writer and Chief Instigator for Storm the Castle Creative. He spends much of his free time staring blankly into space. 

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