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Baylor 2020 Fall Camp Preview (STORY POSTED)

k lonnquist

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Mar 10, 2009
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By Kevin Lonnquist
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The first piece of good news about Baylor’s attempt to start the 2020 football season is that there is going to be a first day of fall camp on Saturday.

And then if everything goes well, there will be a second day. And if everything goes well then, there will be a third. Baylor is scheduled to move into shells Monday followed by pads on Wednesday.

In this world of COVID-19 where everything is no longer assumed and everything is on a day-by-day basis, Dave Arandawill open his first fall camp as Baylor’s head coach. Because of the shutdown, there was no spring football.

Baylor and the rest of the college football world slowly started to make their way back earlier in the summer with voluntary workouts in June. That was followed by monitored conditioning and film room sessions with coaches that began in the latter half of July.

You could describe those as dipping toes into the water events. With fall camp opening, it is a head-first dive. How it evolves after that is the unknown.

Aranda inherited an 11-3 Sugar Bowl team from Matt Rhule that lost nine defensive starters led by All-American defensive end James Lynch. It then lost key contributors on the offense including All-Big 12 receiver Denzel Mims and center Sam Tecklenburg.

But there are pieces returning that should give the Bears a chance to have at least a bowl season. Competing for the Big 12 championship depends on how these following issues evolve:


1. Retooling the OL
This unit has suffered the most of any in this program pretty much going back to the bizarre 2016 season. There’s never been any consistency. Baylor QBs have had to run for their lives. Last year, they were sacked 38 times and hurried 34 other times. That was 72 negative plays. And senior quarterback Charlie Brewer proved how weak this group was when he was knocked out of the Big 12 title game and Sugar Bowl.

With junior Connor Galvin returning at presumably left tackle and Xavier Newman , who is now repping at center instead of right guard, those are the only sure things that the line has going for it. There are a lot of questions new offensive line coach Joe Wickline has to resolve to create a unit that will be far better protecting quarterbacks and helping the running game become consistent.

This is where senior right tackle Blake Bedier and redshirt senior Johncarlo Valentin must take their games to another level.

It should be a healthy competition throughout camp between those four and other returners in sophomore Casey Phillips, junior Khalil Keith and incoming JUCO Mose Jeffery among others. Not only must a certain five form, there must also be a legitimate two-deep. Phillips is currently repping at left guard. Valentin, Keith and Jeffery are likely the candidates at right guard.


2. Addressing the defensive line
The tired out cliché, “football is won in the trenches” is also a fact. From Baylor’s 3-4, Lynch, nose tackle Bravvion Roy and defensive end James Lockhart all departed. That was 25 of the Bears 46 2019 sacks.

For new defensive line coach Dennis Johnson, there are some returners who saw game time between sophomore T.J. Franklin, sophomore Gabe Hall and junior Chidi Ogbonnaya. Ogbonnaya probably gets the first chance to become the nose tackle. Of all the returners, he saw the most quality playing time. Hall and Franklin saw a lot of mop up duty.

Now, it’s incumbent upon them to understand they are going to be needed to produce from opening kick to 00:00. Others could help in sophomores Josh Landry and Cole Maxwelland junior Rob Saulin Josh Landry along with 2020 signee James Sylvester.

Then there’s grad transfer William Bradley-King who is a linebacker but has the build (6-4, 248) to play defensive end if necessary.

Baylor’s linebacker corps got a boost when Iowa transfer and sophomore Dillon Doylewas granted his waiver and can play immediately. He’ll stack up with Bradley-King and junior Terrel Bernard. However, this second line will only be as effective as the front allows it to be.


3. Who is the No. 2 QB?
This kind of goes back to No. 1. If the offensive line struggles again and Brewer were to go down, where do Aranda and offensive coordinatorLarry Fedora turn?

It was pretty clear in the Big 12 title game and Sugar Bowl that both Gerry Bohanon and Jacob Zeno – minus a couple of Zeno great throws that helped get the Big 12 title game to overtime – were overwhelmed. They learned the hard way if you will.

If there truly is a QB battle for the backup between Zeno and Bohanon, the winner needs to be groomed in such a way that he will overcome the nerves and then be capably run the team.

In the small window we had last year, Zeno was more impressive. It would appear he has the better chance to back up Brewer. Newcomer Blake Shapen doesn’t figure to be a part of this.


4. Consistency with run game
Here’s a note: Baylor hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2016. And it wasn’t Shock Linwood. It was Terence Williams who wound up transferring out of Baylor before landing at Houston.

In Matt Rhule’s three years, no Baylor ball carrier eclipsed 700 yards. Baylor’s running game was hit and miss. It averaged a respectable 4.6 yards per carry and would come up with some home run plays. But it wasn’t a grind-it-out kind of attack. That frustrated Rhule because he really wanted that to develop.

With Fedora’s spread, it’s hard to know how primary or complimentary the running game will be. There is experience returning with senior John Lovett. But then it becomes a question mark after that. This is where the arrival of Lamar Consolidated’s Taye McWilliams is essential.

All of the other backs in the offense – Trestan Ebner, Craig Williams and Qualan Jones – are considered more change of pace rather than every down.

You could see a scenario where Lovett and McWilliams combine to divide the heavy load. In this era where multiple backs are used rather than one, that’s fine. Lovett has been a warrior. However, McWilliams is bringing a great with him from high school. He’s coming off a 1,600-yard season with four 200-yard performances in 2019. McWilliams has also been on campus since January (well, you know).


5. Development of an alpha WR
Jalen Hurd held that title in 2018. Mims was pretty close to handling it in 2019 but still was pretty solid as he turned into a second round NFL draft pick.

Brewer’s cupboard isn’t exactly empty. But this is a case where the quarterback can bring along an intriguing group of receivers. Obviously, it starts with junior Tyquan Thornton who was second in receptions (45) and yards (782) but was first in yards per catch (17.4). He’s on the Biletnikoff Award Watch list. Because of his athleticism, Thornton can become that type of receiver. He could also be better than Mims.

The line continues with juniors R.J. Sneed (42-437) and Josh Fleeks (25-262). They would have the best chance to compete with Thornton for that honor.


Camp is here for the first part of August. The season is scheduled to begin around Sept. 12. Fingers crossed for something like a 2020 college football season to actually occur.
 
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