Baylor Football: Defense expected to lead way in Year 2 of Dave Aranda

No Charlie Brewer, hopefully no problem

Charlie Brewer has been Baylor football, since near the end of 2017 and made a curtain call with his announcement of a transfer to Utah in the offseason. For the first time since the beginning of the Matt Rhule era, there will be competition for the quarterback spot with no Brewer.

Sophomore Jacob Zeno and junior Gerry Bohannon are the projected players battling it out for the starting job, with redshirt freshman Blake Shapen competing for a chance as well.

Neither have gotten a chance at a start, but have shown flashes of their capabilities.

Zeno won the hearts of many Baylor fans, with two throws in the Big 12 title game that sparked hope of a win. The above deep pass to Ebner was a specialty in the Rhule offense, getting him in space downfield.

Zeno has the better arm strength and displays a decent awareness of the pocket. However, his accuracy and decision-making have been questionable when getting playing time.

Prior to Zeno coming in, Bohanon was playing and made some plays, with two deep passes to Tyquan Thornton. Bohanon shows excellent speed and is more accurate. However, his decisions making, alongside how he was used in the last regime was problematic at times.

Although the quarterback is the big discussion surrounding the ceiling of the offense, either quarterback has weapons at their disposal and plenty of.

Running back Trestan Ebner is as versatile of an offensive player, as there can be on an offense looking to have a better result than 118th in total yards. Ebner has 891 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in his career, while also catching 99 passes for 1,231 yards and nine touchdowns.

Ebner was also the best kick returner in the conference last year, with an average of 32.2 yards per return and two touchdowns, winning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year.

Craig “Squirl” Williams was the leading rusher last year, but sustained a torn ACL and missed the remainder of the season. When healthy, he has the best burst and explosion out of anyone on the team.

Wide receiver RJ Sneed made a big leap to be the No. 1 receiver last year, with 497 yards and three touchdowns. Although the numbers are not astronomical for a No. 1 option, the Bears had seven players with 100-plus receiving yards and ranked seventh in the conference in passing.

Tyquan Thornton also returns after putting up 782 yards and five touchdowns in 2019. Joshua Fleeks and Gavin Holmes have been key contributors and average over seven yards a catch last season.

The offensive line is to put blame on a decent amount of poor performing last year. However, Aranda went into the off-season and pulled in two starters out of the portal in Vanderbilt center Grant Miller alongside Buffalo guard Jacob Gall.

Left Tackle Connor Galvin is All-Big 12 first team-caliber and Xavier Newman-Johnson has played guard and center throughout his now five-year career as a super senior. Experience and development are no longer an issue, with five seniors projected to start in 2021.

Baylor overall should be a better unit than last year, solely on growing up and returning a good chunk of production.