Only Jimmy Bayes Days Until USF Football Season

#4 DE/LB Jimmy Bayes
Redshirt Sophomore, 6’3”, 228 lbs.

2015 Stats: Bayes played in five games last season. He saw a few snaps at linebacker and played on special teams, but didn’t record any statistics.

Position on Depth Chart: Jimmy wasn’t listed on either the post-spring depth chart or the chart released Monday.

How He Came To USF: Bayes played at Immokalee High School. He was a Class 5A all-state third team selection in his senior year, when he recorded 78 tackles, 8.5 TFL, six forced fumbles, a sack, and a blocked field goal for the Indians as an outside linebacker. Jimmy committed to USF’s 2014 recruiting class over a year early, in January 2013. He was one of the rare early commits who stuck all the way through to signing day, even after offers came in from Louisville, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Missouri, and others.

We didn’t make it to Bayes on last year’s countdown, so here are his Immokalee highlights if you haven’t seen them before.

Recruiting Rankings: Jimmy was one of the big prizes of USF’s 2014 recruiting class. ESPN and Rivals gave him four stars, while 247 and Scout gave him three.

Projected Playing Time: Bayes seems like a player without a position right now. He’s too small to play defensive end, and there are too many good linebackers on the roster for him to get much playing time there. He had to bulk up in his redshirt year to reach college linebacker size. Could he slim back down to play in the secondary? Is he even fast enough and capable enough in pass coverage to play there? We trust USF will eventually figure out the right place to put him on the field, because he certainly has the talent to contribute somewhere. For now, though, that somewhere will continue to be on special teams.

Follow Him On... Jimmy is on Twitter at @JIMMYBAYES4. Football players - they’re just like us! They have beef with Parking Services!

Jimmy’s Instagram is private at jimmybayes4.