FanPost

Instant Impact -- An Early Look at Baylor's Newest Mid-Term Signees

A few days ago, Baylor announced the signing of 4 new football players who will enroll in the Spring. They are, as I'm sure you've noted:

JUCO OL Branton (BJ) Autry

JUCO DL Jeremy Faulk

Navasota WR Tren Dickson

Grandview QB Zach Smith

Now, the question becomes, are any of these guys going to have an impact in 2016? For my first post, I'm going to discuss the player most likely to have an instant impact, BJ Autry.

You often hear the, probably overused, phrase "X player is EXACTLY what Y team looks for in Z position." But that is not an exaggeration with Autry. When you look at how Baylor uses their guard play, it is probably the easiest position to notice the difference between the Briles "veer 'n shoot" (credit Ian Boyd for coming up with that moniker) and the oft-used term, "Air Raid" offense.

First, you look at the OL splits. Tech is often seen as the purest form of the Air Raid:TEch OL split

Now, look at Baylor's O-Line splits:

Baylor OL Splits

Each method of splits has its advantages and disadvantages, but what does it practically mean for an O-Lineman? There are many things, but in general, the closer the O-Line splits, the easier it is to run power, and the farther the splits the easier it is to run zone schemes. (example: power schemes often call for a lot of pulling O-lineman; so, the farther away the gaps are for O-Lineman to reach, the harder it is for them to pull). For Baylor, that means power, power, power. And for Autry, that means he'll fit right in.

Baylor currently runs a lot of Lead-Tackle Power with Spencer Drango. But Baylor has shown since Briles got here, that they generally like to pull with their best OL. For example, when Cyril Richardson played Left-Guard next to Spencer Drango, Cyril was doing a lot more pulling. Example, Cyril Pulling against Oklahoma in 2013, planting the LB opening a huge crease for Shock Linwood. When you watch Autry's tape, you see much of the same thing. Pull, find the defender, plant him in the ground, repeat.

It remains to be seen whether Autry will earn the right to start, let alone be the main pulling O-lineman for Baylor, but it wouldn't shock me to see him earn that role sooner than later. Baylor's power scheme is relatively simple as far as O-Line standards go, so Autry, as an early enrollee, should have plenty of time to learn the system and compete for a spot.

Similar to how Briles says you can't teach a slow guy to run fast, you can't teach a small guy to get big. Autry has the size. Autry is massive, listed at 6-5 320, which you might notice is very similar to the 6-5 340ish Cyril Richardson. And his tape shows that he has decent feet, and experience doing the things necessary to succeed in the Baylor offense. Baylor has 4 new OL spots opening next year, and I'd be surprised if Autry wasn't starting somewhere.

If you like this post, let me know and I'll do one for the others. Thanks for reading!

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