Looking over Baylor's Updated Roster-- Offense

Before the start of Fall Camp last week, Baylor's football program posted an updated version of the 2012 roster that hadn't been changed since Spring Training ended this past March. That roster included new heights/weights for many players, nearly all of the incoming freshmen, and significant position changes for several players.

With the caveat that these things are always subject to change and there may be a little fudging on player measurements-- though Baylor has been proven by recent NFL Draft Combines to be one of the best schools in the country in terms of posting correct numbers-- there are a few things on the roster worthy of note. Hit the jump for my thoughts from looking over it and a few things I have heard/read.

UPDATE: This post was getting incredibly long, so I split it into two parts. Offense will be first up today.

First, the offensive line:

• As always, I'm going to start with the big uglies on the offensive line. From the post-spring depth chart and early practice reports, our starting offensive line goes, from LT->RT, Drango (RSFR), Richardson (JR), Wade (SR), Kaufhold (SR), Baker (SO). That we're going to replace two departing seniors and a junior that has been tied to the NFL already should tell you why we're recruiting JUCO interior OL so hard. If that line starts in almost 26 days against SMU, Baylor will field an OL with heights of (L-R) 6-6, 6-5, 6-4, 6-4, 6-6 and weights of 310, 335, 310, 310, and 300. That's an average size of 6-5, 313. Read that again. Now add Jordan Najvar (6-6, 260) and you have six beasts protecting Nick Florence and mauling defensive lines.
• This first point brings up a recurring theme from the rest of the roster. When he got here a year ago, Spencer Drango was already tall. He probably wasn't going to grow upward all that much after the age of 18. But he was tall and relatively skinny; his Rivals profile lists him at 6-6, 264. Drango gained over 40 pounds in 14 months at Baylor. Look at the difference between the picture on his Rivals profile and the one at BaylorBears.com. Like I said, we'll see this trend again in other places; Baylor's strength and conditioning staff are doing an incredible job. Hopefully we'll see the same kind of growth from freshman Trevon Armstead, who is listed at 6-6, 255 after being recruited at 270, and redshirt freshman Pat Colbert (6-5, 275).
• I am so glad to see that LaQuan McGowan is back, if only because he's an absolutely enormous human being at 6-7, 375 (look at him!). When I said Baylor might be fudging numbers a bit, this is one of the situations I mean. After missing most of the spring for personal reasons and only barely being back at it, I'd be surprised if he wasn't pushing 400. He obviously redshirted last season and won't see time this year unless something terrible happens. A project in every sense of the word, but the reward could be as immense as his frame.
• Kelvin Palmer (6-4, 290) is listed on the two-deep as Drango's backup at LT, but I'm curious if we might see a move across the line for him in his senior year (he's a junior this season) after both Johnsons graduate. People talk about him like he is the most athletic lineman on the team, and his size (or relative lack thereof) may be more conducive to play on the DL. I'm not saying it will happen, it just wouldn't surprise me.
• I've never heard of Drew Earnest (RSFR, 6-4, 275) before in my life.
• Ivory Wade is still listed as an "OG" even though he's clearly playing center. His backup, Stefan Huber (JR, 6-4, 295) is listed as a center. Cyril Richardson is listed as a tackle even though he moved to guard.

Wide Receivers

• The first thing I noticed here is that Kiante' Griffin is on the roster and listed as a WR, the position he played in HS. I thought there was a chance that he might play safety, but Briles gets what he wants. He's listed at 6-0, 200, so he's probably an outside receiver in our system. Good to see him there.
• I expected to see more striation between inside and outside receivers in terms of size than I actually did. Think Terrance Williams (6-2, 205) vs. Tevin Reese (5-10, 165). It may be that some of the younger guys have yet to be split into one position or the other, or it may be that some guys like Corey Coleman (5-10, 180) and Antwan Goodley (5-10, 220) were recruited to play both positions. Little tidbit on Goodley; he squats a legitimate 660 pounds. That's amazing. Word is that Goodley has absolutely incredible hands. Good luck pressing him at the line, opposing DBs.
• Corey Coleman got Kendall Wright's old #1 jersey. Those are big shoes to fill, but he's been planning to fill them since he first committed to Baylor.
• Tevin Reese is the smallest person on the roster in terms of weight at 165. Probably the fastest, too, unless a fellow track star like Kaleb Moore unseats him.