Big 12 Football: 5 worst starting quarterback situations for 2017

Somehow, Zach Smith was able to pull the Baylor offense together enough to dominate a good team in the Boise State Broncos in a huge bowl win for the Bears in 2016. As a freshman, Smith threw for more than 1,500 and 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He was thrown into the fire after star QB Seth Russell went down for the year with injury and Jarrett Stidham had already announced his transfer from Baylor.

In the win over Boise State, Smith showed what he can do if everything comes together under first year head coach Matt Rhule. He threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns with only one interception against the Broncos. Both K.D. Cannon and Ish Zamora are gone which means Pooh Stricklin, Blake Lynch, and Chris Platt are going to have to step up and give Smith some weapons to work with at receiver.

There’s tremendous potential with Smith and the Baylor offense but there’s numerous question marks as well. He’ll have the support he needs in the backfield with Terence Williams and JaMychal Hasty. The biggest question is if everything can connect with the Baylor offense this season with everything that happened with the scandal that cost former head coach Art Briles his job.

Not just Smith, but the entire Baylor team remains one of the biggest unknowns of all the teams in the Big 12. They have the head coach to lead them in the right direction but this is still a team lacking in overall talent and experience.