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This morning, the Waco Tribune-Herald published an article previewing Baylor's Spring Practices, which kick off today. Included in that article was significant injury news about several players upon whom we were no doubt depending for improvement. Coupled with earlier reports from BearsTruth.com, Baylor's 247Sports site, I felt like it was time to take another look at the projected depth charts as practice begins today. First, the known players missing spring practice for one reason or another:
MLB Bryce Hager (groin)
DE Samuel Ukwuachu (torn pectoral muscle)
S Terrell Burt (shoulder surgery)
CB Chris Sanders (shoulder surgery)
OT Spencer Drango (back surgery)
K Kyle Peterson (foot surgery)
Of the five, the injury to Sanders probably worries me the most. As a JUCO transfer, time is not exactly his friend. He needed to get as many reps as possible in our system this spring to position himself to start this coming year. That one hurts.
With these guys all out, I'll take my best stab at both offense and defense. As far as I know, the offense isn't missing anyone beyond Drango.
Offense:
| FIRST TEAM | SECOND TEAM | |||
| QB | 14 | Bryce Petty (SR) | 17 | Seth Russell (SO) |
| RB | 32 | Rashodrick Linwood (SO) | 2 |
Johnny Jefferson (RS-Fr) |
| UB | 28 |
Devin Chafin (SO) |
22 | Terence Williams (Fr) |
| WR | 5 |
Antwan Goodley (SR) |
23 16 |
Clay Fuller (SR) OR Davion Hall (Fr) |
| IR | 1 | Corey Coleman (So) | 23 | Clay Fuller (SR) |
| IR | 42 |
Levi Norwood (SR) |
82 |
Kaleb Moore (SO) |
| WR | 4 3 |
Jay Lee (JR) OR Robbie Rhodes (SO) |
12 | Quan Jones (RS-Fr) |
| TE |
18 |
Tre'Von Armstead (SO) OR Gus Penning (SR) |
85 | Jordan Feuerbacher (Fr) |
| LT | 69 | Pat Colbert (JR) | 62 | Tyler Edwards (SR) |
| LG | 60 |
LaQuan McGowan (JR) |
61 | Jarell Broxton (JR) |
| C | 55 | Kyle Fuller (SO) | 74 62 |
Sean Muir (RS-Fr) Tyler Edwards (SR) |
| RG | 67 | Desmine Hilliard (JR) | 76 |
Jason Osei (SO) |
| RT | 75 |
Troy Baker (SR) |
73 |
Blake Muir (JR) |
While Drango's absence in the spring is hardly unexpected, it does make things a little iffy on the offensive line. The right side is probably set with Baker and Hilliard returning from last season. Fuller is the favorite in the clubhouse at center from everyone that we've been told. Left guard is a different story altogether. There, we'll look to replace Cyril Richardson, a mountain of a man, with one of a pair of similarly mountain-sized men. Guillermo del Toro saw this battle coming and made a movie about it this past summer, substituting giant robots for one of Broxton or McGowan (I don't want to offend by saying definitively that the other is a kaiju). With Drango out, left tackle is going to be interesting. The Trib article lists Blake Muir as a candidate at the center position, but I'm not buying it. He's 6-5, 300. He'd be the biggest center I've ever heard of. I think they mean his little brother Sean, who is 6-2, 275.
Speaking of Blake Muir, I think I might just put him as a potential backup at every position and save myself some time. It's worth noting that he played RT at Hawaii as a redshirt freshman, so he could, at worst, help with depth there.
Defense:
| FIRST TEAM | SECOND TEAM | |||
| RE | 2 |
Shawn Oakman (JR) |
49 | Brian Nance (RS-Fr) |
| DT | 75 96 |
Andrew Billings (SO) OR Byron Bonds (SO) |
98 |
Trevor Clemons-Valdez (JR) |
| NG | 95 | Beau Blackshear (JR) | 93 | Suleiman Masumbuko (JR) |
| LE | 92 | Jamal Palmer (JR) | 90 56 |
Javonte Magee (SO) K.J. Smith (RS-Fr) |
| WLB | 16 | Kendall Ehrlich | 5 | Grant Campbell (JR) |
| MLB | 20 |
Aiavion Edwards (SO) |
51 45 |
Taylor Young (RS-Fr) Xavier Phillips (RS-Fr) |
| NB | 4 | Kiante Griffin (SO) | 52 17 |
Raaquan Davis (RS-FR) OR Austin Jupe (RS-Fr) |
| CB | 19 |
Ryan Reid (RS-Fr) |
30 | Tuswani Copeland (SR) |
| DS | 28 | Orion Stewart (SO) | 12 |
Alfred Pullom (RS-Fr) |
| CS | 26 | Taion Sells (RS-Fr) | 21 48 |
Patrick Levels (SO) OR Travon Blanchard (RS-Fr)? |
| CB | 18 |
Xavien Howard (SO) |
41 3 |
Tyler Stephenson (SR) Tion Wright (SO) |
This is where we lost some folks. Ukwuachu was supposed to push Palmer for playing time opposite Oakman, and Campbell for a starting spot opposite Howard (assuming I'm right on both of those things). Burt was an incumbent starter from last year that may now see himself Wally Pipp'd by Taion Sells. I'll be very interested to see if the potential "Iron Man Davion Hall" with which we were teased might come to pass.
The main purpose of this, which is almost entirely speculation informed by the way things ended last season and the recruiting choices we made with JUCOs (we signed Broxton and Campbell to compete for starting jobs immediately), is to give people a sense of what they might expect if you go to practice. Of course, if you do that, you'll already know more about what is actually happening than I do, and I expect a full report!
One last reminder: this is not supposed to project the start of next season. This is how things are now.