Kawaan

Baker

Okwuegbunam last earned a target playing for the Eagles in 2023. He is not fantasy-relevant in 2025. The Raiders also signed WR Kawaan Baker and correspondingly waived TE Pat Conroy and WR Kyle Philips.

Drafted by the Saints in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Baker was facing an uphill battle to make the Saints’ roster this season. Baker is permitted to practice with the team and participate in all preseason games. He would not be eligible to return until Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Baker (6'1/210) was a three-year starter at South Alabama who increased his production each season. Starting with 33 receptions for 494 yards in 2018, Baker climbed to 51 for 659 yards last season. Baker’s efforts earned him second-team All Sun Belt honors in 2020. Athletically, Baker is a conundrum. He posted excellent speed (4.45 40-yard dash) and jump drills (90th-plus percentile for both) to showcase his explosiveness, but the agility is not there. Baker fell below the 15th percentile in both the short shuttle and three-cone, which is an issue that rears its head in Baker’s stiff and clunky route running. Baker looks somewhat smoother once the ball is in his hands, but it will not matter if he continues to struggle to work himself into that position.

Baker weighed in as 6-foot, 210 pounds with a good sized set of 10 1/2" mitts. In addition to a super 4.44 40-yard dash, the South Alabama standout produced a 39.5 vertical jump, 10-9 broad jump and banged out 21 reps on the bench press. You’d have to say Baker helped himself with this strong set of testing numbers. This season he caught 51-of-71 targets for 659 yards, a 73 percent catch rate, 12.9 YPC and eight touchdowns while earning a 74.6 receiving grade from PFF. He is in play to be selected in the late rounds of the NFL Draft.

Things haven’t exactly been terribly successful for the 3-5 Jaguars so far this season, but Baker (6'1/215) certainly has been a bright spot. He has three or more receptions in each of his eight contest in 2020, and he has found the end zone seven times overall. He’ll look to keep it rolling in next Saturday’s game against Georgia State. He had three grabs for 56 yards in last season’s meeting against the Panthers in Atlanta on Nov. 23, 2019.

Baker (6'1/215) was more than half of South Alabama’s receiving production. He was the only player with more than two receptions, one of just two players with more than ten yards, and the only receiver the score at all. The rest of South Alabama’s receiving corps combined totaled fewer than 100 yards on the day. Baker was mostly used as a deep threat in this one, but seeing as how poorly ULM was defending it, there was no reason to use him any other way. This was Baker’s first multi-score game of the 2020 season. South Alabama are now 3-2 with Georgia Southern up next on the schedule.

Baker got the party started when the 6-foot-1, 215-pound wideout connected with Chance Lovertich on a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It makes back-to-back games with touchdowns, and he’s already picked up 203 yards on 11 catches in his two games. Baker had a 35-574-3 line in 2019, and it looks like he’s going to blow that out of the water. Expect another quality game on September 24 when the Jaguars face UAB.

A very large portion of this yardage came on one play, as Baker and Cephus Johnson connected on a 75-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Jaguars a 7-3 lead. He made a couple other nice plays down the field, but this was mostly a defensive effort on Thursday. That’s the nice way to say both these offenses were bad. Baker now has three touchdowns, and he’ll try to add to that total when South Alabama faces Troy on October 16.

Baker failed to find the end zone on the ground or through the air for just the second time this season. He has three rushing scores and five receiving touchdowns through his first six games. The Swiss Army Knife is easily the best player in South Alabama’s offense, and he is so versatile. He’ll look to guide his team back into the win column when they battle Alabama State of the FCS next weekend.

Baker (6'1/209) ran it in from 12 yards out in the closing moments of the first quarter and later notched a 24-yard scoring grab in the second quarter. He’s now scored five total touchdowns on the young season. The redshirt sophomore is a versatile offensive cog, one whom South Alabama has consistently used as both a receiver and a runner through two games this season. He’ll try to add to his slick early touchdown total in next weekend’s home showdown with Texas State.