Sorry, I'm a little late with this. I spent all Saturday afternoon and evening taking care of a personal item that required my attention. Life happens. But it was nothing bad.
This practice was really nothing exceptional. The Bears worked out in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts. There wasn't going to be and there wasn't a lot of contact after the initial LOS hit. The Bears were not going at full speed and for good reason. They're just 3 days into this.
If you're wondering why there wasn't a scrimmage, I just think Art Briles has decided that he wants to limit the contact even more than what's been mandated by the Big 12. Of course, he was already in that mode for several years. Plus, the schedule was a little odd. If Baylor does this on Aug. 15, then it's a little too deep in the schedule when the heavy lifting has started. Coaches value the practice time too much. To be honest, this is a great PR day. It has to be done. Better to get it out of the way early than late.
But some things to note:
>RB Devin Chafin looks healthy. That would be a big help if Baylor really wants to distribute the carries between Shock Linwood, Johnny Jefferson and Chafin. I'm sure Terrance Williams will figure into the mix. Time will tell how that happens.
>DB Xavien Howard was very aggressive. When he was going against Jay Lee and the others, he didn't give an inch. He manned up and stayed after them.
>WR Corey Coleman is a great competitor. He continues to emerge as one of the quiet leaders of this team. And that's fine. His actions will set the tone. When I talked to him at the Big 12 media day, you'll remember that he talked about absorbing everything that Terrence Williams and Antwan Goodley and Tevin Reece did. He wants to leave his mark.
>DE Jamal Palmer looked pretty active and moved pretty well coming off the ACL. That's important. You can tell he's happy to be back. We'll have a video of him going up shortly.
>With this workout, you really can't say much about the backups and OL and DL. That's not what Saturday was about.
>I'm burying the lead. That's Jr. QB Seth Russell. Everybody who reads my material knows what I think. I have concerns about this. I understand that the national media wants to say that Russell is going to pick up with Nick Florence and Bryce Petty left off. And they're going to talk about his ability to run that will add a dimension to the offense. What Russell did at the Peyton Manning academy this summer is definitely to his credit.
That's fine. I understand that. But if you were among those at Highers to watch this Saturday, you know what you saw. In Russell's defense, there were times he wasn't working with Coleman. And he didn't have KD Cannon out there. It's about the Jimmys and the Joes.
But even in the 7 on 7 drills I just did not see touch on the ball that was crisp much less accurate. Balls that should have been right on target to a 6-6 tight end (Tre'Von Armstead) were at the TE's feet. Other passes hit the ground. There were also times he held the ball too long and took a "sack". In several of those instances, Russell was picked off or had several balls broken up that probably should have been completions. I can remember one pass over the middle that turned into an easy interception for Xavien Howard. Why? Because Howard had a better chance to catch the ball.
This season, the Baylor offense's success is going to depend on the mid-range ball. The 12-15 yarders. The 13-18 yarders. Things like that. And it doesn't matter if those are out routes to the sidelines or across the middle.
This isn't to say that everything is, "Oh crud, this is a mess." But for the next three weeks, Russell really has to step it up. Baylor really needs him to be effective.
Consider the alternatives. IMO, the only reason why Chris Johnson and Jarrett Stidham were listed at the No. 2 at QB from the post spring depth chart was for political purposes. Johnson has been with the program for years. Stidham just arrived. Johnson is just not ready and probably won't ever be. He doesn't set his feet and at the first sign of pressure, he's off.
I think Baylor has to go into this season counting on Russell with an eye of getting Stidham ready to play. As much as Baylor may want to quietly want to redshirt him, I don't think the coaching staff can afford to do it. It appears Stidham is getting the second-team reps or a healthy dose of them.
The SMU game will tell us a lot. Should Baylor get this game on cruise control in the second half, the next QB to come into the game will be the story. If it’s Stidham, the staff knows it needs to give him as much live game action as possible so he can have a feel for the D1 game should Baylor need him toward the end of the season. If it’s Johnson, then my thinking is two things: Baylor hasn’t made up its mind what to do with Stidham or Russell played so well against the outmanned Mustangs that maybe the staff wants to buy some time before it exposes Stidham. The bottom line for me is that I think Stidham is going to see the field this year.
If Russell gets hurt or just becomes very erratic to the point where the offense is off, is Johnson going to come in and be the cavalry? No. Stidham was brought to Baylor because he is viewed as the next great quarterback to play in this offense. He enrolled in January because he wanted an opportunity to compete for the starting job. Well, he’s not going to win that. But he’s the better option.
Russell has the intangibles to be a great quarterback. He needs a great start on Sept. 4 in Dallas to do that. It will set the tone. Hopefully, what was seen Saturday is matter of him purging all of the kinks.
If that mid-range ball is becomes a really good ball, then Baylor is going to be in both the Big 12 championship and national championship races. If it’s a source of concern, then…. Yes I know it’s odd to pin the season on one ball. But if you know Baylor, you know this ball is pretty darn important.
Time will tell.
This practice was really nothing exceptional. The Bears worked out in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts. There wasn't going to be and there wasn't a lot of contact after the initial LOS hit. The Bears were not going at full speed and for good reason. They're just 3 days into this.
If you're wondering why there wasn't a scrimmage, I just think Art Briles has decided that he wants to limit the contact even more than what's been mandated by the Big 12. Of course, he was already in that mode for several years. Plus, the schedule was a little odd. If Baylor does this on Aug. 15, then it's a little too deep in the schedule when the heavy lifting has started. Coaches value the practice time too much. To be honest, this is a great PR day. It has to be done. Better to get it out of the way early than late.
But some things to note:
>RB Devin Chafin looks healthy. That would be a big help if Baylor really wants to distribute the carries between Shock Linwood, Johnny Jefferson and Chafin. I'm sure Terrance Williams will figure into the mix. Time will tell how that happens.
>DB Xavien Howard was very aggressive. When he was going against Jay Lee and the others, he didn't give an inch. He manned up and stayed after them.
>WR Corey Coleman is a great competitor. He continues to emerge as one of the quiet leaders of this team. And that's fine. His actions will set the tone. When I talked to him at the Big 12 media day, you'll remember that he talked about absorbing everything that Terrence Williams and Antwan Goodley and Tevin Reece did. He wants to leave his mark.
>DE Jamal Palmer looked pretty active and moved pretty well coming off the ACL. That's important. You can tell he's happy to be back. We'll have a video of him going up shortly.
>With this workout, you really can't say much about the backups and OL and DL. That's not what Saturday was about.
>I'm burying the lead. That's Jr. QB Seth Russell. Everybody who reads my material knows what I think. I have concerns about this. I understand that the national media wants to say that Russell is going to pick up with Nick Florence and Bryce Petty left off. And they're going to talk about his ability to run that will add a dimension to the offense. What Russell did at the Peyton Manning academy this summer is definitely to his credit.
That's fine. I understand that. But if you were among those at Highers to watch this Saturday, you know what you saw. In Russell's defense, there were times he wasn't working with Coleman. And he didn't have KD Cannon out there. It's about the Jimmys and the Joes.
But even in the 7 on 7 drills I just did not see touch on the ball that was crisp much less accurate. Balls that should have been right on target to a 6-6 tight end (Tre'Von Armstead) were at the TE's feet. Other passes hit the ground. There were also times he held the ball too long and took a "sack". In several of those instances, Russell was picked off or had several balls broken up that probably should have been completions. I can remember one pass over the middle that turned into an easy interception for Xavien Howard. Why? Because Howard had a better chance to catch the ball.
This season, the Baylor offense's success is going to depend on the mid-range ball. The 12-15 yarders. The 13-18 yarders. Things like that. And it doesn't matter if those are out routes to the sidelines or across the middle.
This isn't to say that everything is, "Oh crud, this is a mess." But for the next three weeks, Russell really has to step it up. Baylor really needs him to be effective.
Consider the alternatives. IMO, the only reason why Chris Johnson and Jarrett Stidham were listed at the No. 2 at QB from the post spring depth chart was for political purposes. Johnson has been with the program for years. Stidham just arrived. Johnson is just not ready and probably won't ever be. He doesn't set his feet and at the first sign of pressure, he's off.
I think Baylor has to go into this season counting on Russell with an eye of getting Stidham ready to play. As much as Baylor may want to quietly want to redshirt him, I don't think the coaching staff can afford to do it. It appears Stidham is getting the second-team reps or a healthy dose of them.
The SMU game will tell us a lot. Should Baylor get this game on cruise control in the second half, the next QB to come into the game will be the story. If it’s Stidham, the staff knows it needs to give him as much live game action as possible so he can have a feel for the D1 game should Baylor need him toward the end of the season. If it’s Johnson, then my thinking is two things: Baylor hasn’t made up its mind what to do with Stidham or Russell played so well against the outmanned Mustangs that maybe the staff wants to buy some time before it exposes Stidham. The bottom line for me is that I think Stidham is going to see the field this year.
If Russell gets hurt or just becomes very erratic to the point where the offense is off, is Johnson going to come in and be the cavalry? No. Stidham was brought to Baylor because he is viewed as the next great quarterback to play in this offense. He enrolled in January because he wanted an opportunity to compete for the starting job. Well, he’s not going to win that. But he’s the better option.
Russell has the intangibles to be a great quarterback. He needs a great start on Sept. 4 in Dallas to do that. It will set the tone. Hopefully, what was seen Saturday is matter of him purging all of the kinks.
If that mid-range ball is becomes a really good ball, then Baylor is going to be in both the Big 12 championship and national championship races. If it’s a source of concern, then…. Yes I know it’s odd to pin the season on one ball. But if you know Baylor, you know this ball is pretty darn important.
Time will tell.
