Big 12 Football: One Key Spring Standout from Every Team

Spring practice is underway for nearly every college football team in the country. And while we may be watching to see how these teams perform and what their weaknesses are, we should be keeping an eye on the players as well.

But not just any players, we all know who the stars of the teams are. This article will be given credit to all of the players that you may not hear much about, but are having an amazing spring practice. So much so, that they may end up sliding up that depth chart and receive more playing time than they would have before the season started. 

These are the spring standouts for each team in the Big 12.

Baylor: QB Nick Florence

Baylor is less than two weeks into spring practice as it tries to begin life without quarterback Robert Griffin. Although it will be tough moving on without Superman, word is that the likely starter in Nick Florence has been playing extremely well. Here are some words from ESPN writer David Ubben.

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Quarterback Nick Florence looked really good. Throwing into the wind, he hit Terrance Williams and Tevin Reese on consecutive deep balls down the field in one-on-one drills. Reese and Williams, by the way, looked great ... but you already knew that.

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Florence has seen limited action in his three-year career, but when he was a starter back in 2009, he completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,786 yards. He may not be Griffin, but he sure does give the Bears hope as they move on with life without him.

Iowa State: C Tom Farniok

Tom Farniok became the starter on the offensive line for the Cyclones last year a lot earlier than the program would have liked as a freshman. But he did a fabulous job, and in practice he's building on the success he had last season.

“Truthfully, we would rather Tom not have to play last year,” coach Paul Rhoads said, “but he got forced into it, did a very admirable job.

“And right now, I think he’s quite capable of competing with all others in this league.”

With a couple new starters along this offensive line, Farniok will have to become a leader real quick his sophomore season. Looks like he's up to that task.

Kansas: QB Jake Heaps

The Kansas Jayhawks have just begun spring practice a couple of days ago, so it's nearly impossible to try to come up with a player who has stood out. But judging by the words of new coach Charlie Weis, it's at the quarterback position so far.

"Heaps is leaps and bounds ahead of the other quarterbacks in the program; it’s not close," Weis said. "How am I going to get him ready to play here in the program knowing that he can’t play in the games next year? When you’re getting your teams ready to play in the summertime, how many reps can you really get him?"

Heaps is a transfer from BYU and isn't eligible to play until 2013 because of that. The starter this year will likely be another quarterback transfer in Dayne Crist who left Notre Dame last season. Although what Weis should be more concerned about during the spring is that defense that was ranked dead last in the country, allowing nearly 44 points per contest.

Kansas State

The Wildcats don't begin spring practice until April 4 and will play their spring game on April 28.

Oklahoma: DE R.J. Washington

R.J. Washington was a top recruit coming out of high school in 2007, but never quite fitting in with the team and having a few issues he had to deal with, he just never lived up to expectations. Now that he heads into his senior season, he's looking to turn things around and become the starter to fill in the role of Frank Alexander who's no longer around.

"To be honest with you, it really, really bugged me my first couple of years," Washington said. "Just because everyone is like, 'Man you should be starting.' People even to this day say, 'Weren't you the No. 1 recruit in the nation? Shouldn't you already be starting?' And the only thing you can really do is change your attitude."

Washington has changed his attitude and could surprise some people with his play this season as he'll finally get a chance to start full time.

Oklahoma State: WR Blake Jackson

Oklahoma State has a lot of questions to answer, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. With wide receiver Justin Blackmon getting ready for the NFL draft, players need to step up and try to fill his shoes. Meet Blake Jackson who played tight end for two seasons at a junior college before transferring to Oklahoma State.

"He's a great fit for our offense," coach Mike Gundy said. "He snatches the ball really well. He's got good body control. He's going to have a body to get on linebackers and get on safeties because we will be able to play him inside quite a bit.

"He has a little big more breakaway speed than you think for a guy who weighs 240 pounds."

Although his big frame, Jackson will likely play inside receiver for the Cowboys and could be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.

TCU: SS Antonio Graves

Antonio Graves has seen time everywhere for the TCU Horned Frogs throughout his career. He played quarterback in high school, switched to safety in college, became a linebacker later on and now will likely earn a spot at strong safety this season.

“He had three or four really good plays,” coach Gary Patterson said. “He did play well, especially when he was blitzing. Right now, we’re trying to find 11 good players.”

Graves has now bulked up to around 230 pounds and is about as effective as he's been.

“When he was playing linebacker for us, the two things he did really well was coverage and blitzing,” Patterson said. “Those are the things strong safeties do. We didn’t feel like we were getting the blitz we needed to and today we got one. He ran by the tackles a couple times.”

Look for him to be a big part of this defense as the Horned Frogs get used to their new home in the Big 12 conference.

Texas: WR DeSean Hales

The Texas Longhorns have already knocked out a couple of practices throughout the spring, and there are some good things to focus on. One of those things is wide receiver DeSean Hales, who has had a great spring so far for the Longhorns:

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DeSean just needs to continue to get consistent. I told him one day, I think he only starts jumping up and down and catching balls when you all are there. So I’m going to have you come to every practice, no doubt. But DeSean’s the only senior. Need an older guy in the room. We’re asking him to give us leadership. We’re asking him to give us plays. He’s not a big-bodied type guy so he’s not going to be a great blocker out on the corner. He’s just got to make the plays that he’s making now in the fall.

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With the youth at the wide receiver position, the Longhorns could really use a big season from the senior wideout. He only has 13 career catches, but if he can continue having a great practice, we may get to see him on the field more often. He's a speedy wide receiver that has big playmaking ability if he's able to keep up the consistency.

Texas Tech: RB SaDale Foster

Texas Tech had a fabulous passing game last season, but the running game struggled as it was ranked 87th in the country. Now with their main contributors Eric Stephens and DeAndre Washington status up in the air and several other questions involving other players, the Red Raiders needed a runner they could count on.

Meet JUCO transfer SaDale Foster.

"We went out and took a chance on SaDale Foster, and man he’s been a blessing," head coach Tommy Tubberville said.

Foster is a playmaker with great speed who was really tearing it up as a kick returner in Riverside Junior College in California.

"He can really play in this league. He can play in any league," Tuberville said. "He’s really going to help us."

West Virginia: The Entire Offensive Line

Since this is the last slide, we're going to cheat a little bit and include an entire unit. After all, the offensive line never receives any credit, so when you're able to show love, you surely would like to take advantage of it. We're hearing nothing but great things about this West Virginia offensive line, but don't just take my word for it.

"The first group looks good," head coach Dana Holgorsen stated. "They have a chance to be as good as we've had. Joe Madsen is a leader and is doing a fantastic job. He's a great player. Jeff Braun looks twice as good as he did in camp last year. He's in better shape, he's healthy and he understands. With Josh Jenkins coming back, he brings experience. Pat Eger is more confident than he's been, Quinton Spain is more confident. Those first-level guys are doing good things."

This offensive line is one of the more experienced in the country, and when you're heading to a more physical conference like the Big 12, this will be needed to help succeed. We know the Mountaineers have the offense to score with anybody, having an offensive line that gives them even more time is almost scary to think about.