With fall camp only three weeks away, Louisiana Tech fans are certainly familiar with the names J’Mar Smith, Adrian Hardy, Kody Russey, Amik Robertson, L’Jarius Sneed and many more Bulldogs that have been contributing to the team’s success in recent years.

Over the course of the week, BleedTechBlue will spotlight five players that fans might not be all that familiar with who are certain to make an impact in 2019.

Up next, DE/OLB Willie Baker.

2018 stats: 13 games played, 260 snaps taken, 32 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 6 sacks

Willie Baker was a part of the 2016 recruiting class for Louisiana Tech. The Livonia native chose the Bulldogs over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan, Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.

While Baker certainly burst onto the scene with four sacks in La Tech’s 31-14 Hawaii Bowl win in December, the rising redshirt junior has quietly grown up behind the scenes for the most part.

Baker will make his first career start August 31st when the Bulldogs travel to Texas for the season opener.

Replacing Jaylon Ferguson is obviously no easy task, but with his stellar performance in the Hawaii Bowl, Baker has plenty of expectations surrounding him in 2019.

Willie Baker will be the premier pass rusher for Louisiana Tech in 2019.

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