Team Notes: Bye Week & More
Outside of Clay Johnston, Gavin Holmes, Jaylen Ellis, and Cole Maxwell being out for the season with knee injuries, the Bears are relatively healthy. The issue of relatively healthy means plenty of players are banged up, but they can play. The bye week comes at a great time to rest, recuperate, and treat the nagging issues which can heal. Post season surgeries could occur for a few to clean up issues from the season. It happens each year and Spring is the time to heal from those injuries, like knee scopes, labrum/rotator cuff surgeries, etc. Here is a quick rundown:Denzel Mims with ankle/foot issues as well as his thumb getting dinged up againSqwirl recovering from his meniscus issueConnor Galvin recovering from his meniscus issue, which was lesser injury than Sqwirl. Galvin has had two full weeks of recovery and the bye week is 3, Saturday after WVU is 4 weeks, then TCU will be 5 weeks and the prognosis was 4-6 weeks until he returned. Gaining his services would give the OL another shot in the armSeveral OL have aches and pains, but nothing structural to dateTrestan Ebner is still recovering from a contusion to his leg following the UTSA gameJohn Lovett is still a mystery to his injuryGrayland Arnold strained a hamstring, but should be ok in a couple of weeksNoah Rauschenberg needs time on his groin injuryRyan Miller looks to be headed to a redshirt at NT/DT to further his careerStill tracking down Gabe Hall's issue from practiceJames Lockhart got the wind knocked out of him during the game and returnedConfidence and trust within the team continues to be high and growing. The loss of Johnston against Tech was seen as a setback by the players and staff, but the adjustment was quick with Bernard and Williams stepping into the void of leadership. Long snapper Ross Matiscik also spelled Bernard for several plays as he did in 2017 and 2018 when needed. This is preserving Matt Jones redshirt. Need Ashton Logan to step up to fill snaps and earn the position of the future or Jones could pass him quickly. Commit Anthony Anyanwu of Sachse is moving around the Mustang defense. He's lining up as a standup OLB, MLB, 5 tech, and 7 with both hands on the ground. The growth from 2018 into 2019 is massive and at 6-3 240, he will have the opportunity to play multiple positions for the Bears with his explosion.Commit Alven Johnson is also moving around for his team with time inside as a 3 tech and his usual 7 tech position. Johnson is now 260 at 6-4 and will continue to add weight to his large frame at Baylor.
Team Notes 4-2-19
Gathered a few notes on the defense and offense over the past week, so here we go:Defensive line is big and athletic. James Lynch has been a known since he signed, but his ginger brother Rob Saulin has been a bit of an afterthought to many. At the last testing he put down a 4.91 at 6-5 295 and now pushed past Chidi Ogbonnaya into the starting lineup currently. Saulin has bounced around as a TE and OL during his freshman season due to need, then recovered from shoulder surgery, played a bit in 2018 and is now pushing to be the starting DT for 2019. Bravvion Roy is moving around well after his knee scope. He's limited, but is expected to be ready for fall camp.Chidi is stout, strong, and still a bit raw with his hands.Ashton Logan has stepped up when Clay Johnston has been out. Johnston is fine, but the staff wants him 100% healthy for the season. Logan might not start in 2019, but he'll be ready for 2020. Texada and Houston are the guys currently at CB. Barnes is pushing Houston for the spot currently. Tecklenburg looks like a new guy on the field, but he is getting some competition from Fruhmorgen to push him.Connor Galvin may be the best OT Baylor has had since Jason Smith or Fred Miller by the time he is done. Niadre Zouzoua is coming along and will be fun to watch the next two years. He is all business. Takes all the coaching in and if there were a Jugs machine for DL, you'd hear him like we heard Jalen last year.
Injuries/Suspensions Per Game
9/1/18 - ACUSuspensionGreg RobertsAshton LoganBJ Thompson InjuryJamie Jacobs - (back)Johncarlo Valentin 9/8/18 - UTSASuspensionGreg Roberts - first halfAshton Logan BJ Thompson InjuryJamie Jacobs - (back)9/15/18 - DukeSuspensionInjuryJamie Jacobs - (back)9/22/18 - KansasSuspensionJaMycal Hasty - First halfInjuryJamie Jacobs - (back)9/29/18 - OklahomaSuspensionInjuryJamie Jacobs - (back)
The Measurements: 2019 class has pieces to be Rhule's most athletic
While Baylor's 2019 class will indeed be much smaller than the 27 and 23-prospect classes in 2017 and 2018, there is a greater opportunity to be selective in the prospects signed.
The 2017 Class: Linebackers
A look at the four linebackers which were signed by Matt Rhule and the Baylor coaching staff on National Signing Day 2017.