Yesterday we kicked off our Big 12 football Q & A sessions by talking about the teams that could contend for the Big 12 Conference Championship. Today we will take a look at some of the unknown players in the league who could become stars this season.

Joining us once again is Jay Beck of the Big 12 football blog Turfburner. Amanda Staver of RideSchooner, Ride, and the Senior Editor for the Oklahoma Sooners, and Allen Kenney of Blatant Homerism.

[box] Question # 2: Name me a few unknown players that could become stars this season[/box]

Jay Beck – Turfburner.com: They may not all be unknown, but this feels like the year of transfers in the Big 12.

West Virginia picked up Houston running back Charles Sims who is eligible to play immediately after already having graduated from Houston.  He rushed for 698 yards last season and also racked up another 759 yards receiving so he should be a perfect fit in Dana Holgorsen’s system.  At a minimum, he should lessen the sting of losing Tavon Austin to graduation.

At Kansas State, keep an eye on junior college quarterback, Jake Waters.  Although he still has to beat out Daniel Sams for the job, Waters is a guy that could make a huge splash in Manhattan.  I saw him play during the spring game and came away impressed even if it was against K-State’s reserve defense.  He’s not the runner Collin Klein was, but he can still move and throws well on the run.  He should be the perfect fit in Bill Snyder’s offense and the Waters to Tyler Lockett combo could be a lethal one this fall.

He’s not a transfer, but how about quarterback Bryce Petty at Baylor?  He’ll take over the Bears’ offense from Nick Florence and although he’s only thrown 14 career passes, Phil Steele still tabbed him as his All-Big 12 quarterback.  He’s a big guy with a strong arm and can run guys over when he needs too.

The last guy I’ll mention is Kansas State middle linebacker, Blake Slaughter.  The guy has an interesting story.  After playing consistently as a sophomore, he found himself in a reserve role his junior season backing up Arthur Brown and finished with only two tackles.  Instead of playing behind Brown again as a senior, he redshirted last season.  He doesn’t have the explosiveness that Brown did at the position, but will play a big role in the middle of KSU’s young defense that returns only two starters from last year.

Amanda Staver – Ride Schooner, Ride: As for unknown players, not that TCU’s Casey Pachall is unknown – more infamous than unknown – he would be one of my top players to watch. Seeing what he can do on the field isn’t new to TCU fans, but the only Big XII game we got to see him play in last season was against Kansas in week 2. If Pachall comes out of the gates like he hasn’t missed a beat, then the Frogs will pose a major threat at the title in their second season as a member.

Baylor Bears WR Robbie Rhodes is also an unknown to watch. He especially needs to be watched by opposing team’s defensive coordinators. The five-star recruit had offers from every Texas based Big XII school, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and ended up signing with the Bears in February. He was the top rated recruit in the state of Texas and the No. 2 receiver recruit in the country.

Bryce Petty, the Bears new QB, was nothing but impressive in spring workouts. He apparently has a beast of an arm and size-wise is bigger than RGIII and Nick Florence. Petty has both of the former quarterbacks saying that he has major Heisman potential. The Bears with another dual-threat guy under center and a five-star WR target to throw to will probably make these two unknowns, known pretty quickly.

Allen Kenney – Blatant Homerism: Well, I just gave you one yesterday in Bryce Petty. At this point, you just have to assume Baylor QBs will post huge numbers.

Also, keep an eye on Oklahoma cornerback Cortez Johnson. He’s a big, physical cover man who followed Mike Stoops from Arizona to the Sooners. Johnson is drawing rave reviews around Norman, and he’s learning under the tutelage of one of the best defensive backs coaches alive in Stoops.

Here’s one more from way out in left field: Iowa State linebacker Jeremiah George. ISU coach Paul Rhoads and defensive coordinator Wally Burnham seem to have a knack for churning out quality LBs, and George looks like the next in line. He came on really strong after stalwart Jake Knott was lost for the year in the middle of the 2012 season.

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