By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
One of the silver linings to Baylor’s 30-15 loss to Air Force in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl last week was that starting quarterback Blake Shapen didn’t suffer an injury.
Should there not be anything bizarre health wise for him between now and the start of spring football – no date has been set – he should be ready to go.
But from a scholarship QB standpoint, who is going to join him? Shapen is the only scholarship QB on the roster.
With the stunning flip of Austin Novosad from Baylor to Oregon, the Bears are left in a bind on who fills out that part of the roster. There aren’t any high school options as the Bears offered only three for the 2023, and they signed Dec. 21.
A high school commit won’t help this situation anyway. Baylor needs an infusion of immediate college experience.
In short, the Baylor QB situation is a mess.
Head coach Dave Aranda acknowledged last week that the staff will hunt through the NCAA transfer portal to find some help. Easier said than done because a good number of those in the portal are in the portal because they saw little to no playing time at their previous stop.
However, the issue for this position in 2023 is if Baylor is going to treat spring football as a competition between Shapen and whoever or not. If it’s the latter, then Baylor is going to struggle finding someone who wants to come here. NIL will be a factor as well.
The other issue Baylor coaches must decide is if they want a QB to be more of a running threat – Shapen is not that – or if they remain comfortable with a drop back and run when it’s necessary approach.
The portal period runs through Jan. 18. As of now, there were 47 QBs in the portal. But only 17 are not committed as the others found a location or withdrew.
Baylor spring football needs to be a true battle for the starting QB job. Here are some candidates that Baylor may pursue:
>Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina (two years of eligibility) – He missed the last three games with a foot injury. But he has command of his market. Baylor’s timing either could be really good or really bad. It’s either good because he hasn’t decided or it’s a really bad because McCall has already narrowed his list to finalists and the Bears are too late.
Reportedly, he canceled a visit to Auburn earlier this month. It’s unclear if that’s still an option. The other schools he’s connected to are Liberty – where his former coach Jeremy Chadwell relocated – NC State and Florida. He was also looking at UCLA and Oregon. However, those programs filled their needs.
The North Carolina native has 8,019 career passing yards with 78 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He’s also rushed for 1,053 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
Hudson Card, Texas (two years of eligibility) – A couple of weeks ago, this was dismissed. But it now may need to be a thing. The Lake Travis product doesn’t have a great arm and will force a ball when he should not. However, he knows the Big 12.
Card finished the 2022 season throwing for 928 yards and six scores. He also completed 69 percent of his passes. Like Shapen, he’s not a great runner.
TCU, Notre Dame and UTSA are considered other programs in the mix.
Brennan Armstrong, Virginia (one year of eligibility) – Virginia’s all-time leading passer probably wants to go out with a bang. The lefty threw for 8,442 yards and school-record 58 touchdowns.
But with a new coach, Armstrong did not have a very good 2022 for the Cavaliers. He threw for just 2,210 yards and seven scores against 12 INTs. He was also sacked 34 times and completed just 54 percent of his attempts.
NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse Wisconsin and Minnesota appear to be those in the running. Oddsmakers have him going to Notre Dame.
Luke Altmyer, Ole Miss (three years of eligibility) – Baylor fans might remember him from the 2022 Sugar Bowl. Altmyer came on in relief of Matt Corral and threw for 174 yards and a touchdown.
The former 4-star prospect has a big arm but lost the starting job to Jackson Dart in the spring. He appeared in only three games in 2022 so his eligibility is robust along with a redshirt. He appeared in the maximum of four in 2021.
Altmyer is planning to stay with Ole Miss through Wednesday’s Texas Bowl against Texas Tech. He also reportedly visited Illinois 10 days ago. Missouri and Louisville were believed to be in the hunt.
Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State (one year of eligibility) – He knows Baylor’s offense. Baylor knows him. The question for Baylor is if it’s looking for a one-year stop gap solution, which is what Sanders is, or something long term as it builds the bridge to the 2024 high school QBs.
The veteran has 2024 NFL Draft aspirations. He has been linked to Ole Miss and Auburn, two programs that have the kind of offense that develops signal callers.
Finally, there’s the unknown QB that’s out there. But the risk is that their little playing time and development possibly doesn’t help Baylor’s pursuit. This is going to be a challenge for this staff.
Publisher
One of the silver linings to Baylor’s 30-15 loss to Air Force in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl last week was that starting quarterback Blake Shapen didn’t suffer an injury.
Should there not be anything bizarre health wise for him between now and the start of spring football – no date has been set – he should be ready to go.
But from a scholarship QB standpoint, who is going to join him? Shapen is the only scholarship QB on the roster.
With the stunning flip of Austin Novosad from Baylor to Oregon, the Bears are left in a bind on who fills out that part of the roster. There aren’t any high school options as the Bears offered only three for the 2023, and they signed Dec. 21.
A high school commit won’t help this situation anyway. Baylor needs an infusion of immediate college experience.
In short, the Baylor QB situation is a mess.
Head coach Dave Aranda acknowledged last week that the staff will hunt through the NCAA transfer portal to find some help. Easier said than done because a good number of those in the portal are in the portal because they saw little to no playing time at their previous stop.
However, the issue for this position in 2023 is if Baylor is going to treat spring football as a competition between Shapen and whoever or not. If it’s the latter, then Baylor is going to struggle finding someone who wants to come here. NIL will be a factor as well.
The other issue Baylor coaches must decide is if they want a QB to be more of a running threat – Shapen is not that – or if they remain comfortable with a drop back and run when it’s necessary approach.
The portal period runs through Jan. 18. As of now, there were 47 QBs in the portal. But only 17 are not committed as the others found a location or withdrew.
Baylor spring football needs to be a true battle for the starting QB job. Here are some candidates that Baylor may pursue:
>Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina (two years of eligibility) – He missed the last three games with a foot injury. But he has command of his market. Baylor’s timing either could be really good or really bad. It’s either good because he hasn’t decided or it’s a really bad because McCall has already narrowed his list to finalists and the Bears are too late.
Reportedly, he canceled a visit to Auburn earlier this month. It’s unclear if that’s still an option. The other schools he’s connected to are Liberty – where his former coach Jeremy Chadwell relocated – NC State and Florida. He was also looking at UCLA and Oregon. However, those programs filled their needs.
The North Carolina native has 8,019 career passing yards with 78 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He’s also rushed for 1,053 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
Hudson Card, Texas (two years of eligibility) – A couple of weeks ago, this was dismissed. But it now may need to be a thing. The Lake Travis product doesn’t have a great arm and will force a ball when he should not. However, he knows the Big 12.
Card finished the 2022 season throwing for 928 yards and six scores. He also completed 69 percent of his passes. Like Shapen, he’s not a great runner.
TCU, Notre Dame and UTSA are considered other programs in the mix.
Brennan Armstrong, Virginia (one year of eligibility) – Virginia’s all-time leading passer probably wants to go out with a bang. The lefty threw for 8,442 yards and school-record 58 touchdowns.
But with a new coach, Armstrong did not have a very good 2022 for the Cavaliers. He threw for just 2,210 yards and seven scores against 12 INTs. He was also sacked 34 times and completed just 54 percent of his attempts.
NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse Wisconsin and Minnesota appear to be those in the running. Oddsmakers have him going to Notre Dame.
Luke Altmyer, Ole Miss (three years of eligibility) – Baylor fans might remember him from the 2022 Sugar Bowl. Altmyer came on in relief of Matt Corral and threw for 174 yards and a touchdown.
The former 4-star prospect has a big arm but lost the starting job to Jackson Dart in the spring. He appeared in only three games in 2022 so his eligibility is robust along with a redshirt. He appeared in the maximum of four in 2021.
Altmyer is planning to stay with Ole Miss through Wednesday’s Texas Bowl against Texas Tech. He also reportedly visited Illinois 10 days ago. Missouri and Louisville were believed to be in the hunt.
Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State (one year of eligibility) – He knows Baylor’s offense. Baylor knows him. The question for Baylor is if it’s looking for a one-year stop gap solution, which is what Sanders is, or something long term as it builds the bridge to the 2024 high school QBs.
The veteran has 2024 NFL Draft aspirations. He has been linked to Ole Miss and Auburn, two programs that have the kind of offense that develops signal callers.
Finally, there’s the unknown QB that’s out there. But the risk is that their little playing time and development possibly doesn’t help Baylor’s pursuit. This is going to be a challenge for this staff.
