Jaylen Ellis

Injuries, transfers, and more transitioned the 2018 and 2019 classes into needing younger players to step into the experience void for 2022

Today wasn't as great weather wise, but the play picked up on both sides of the ball and improvement in certain areas was noticeable. I was joined by footballBob, Smoaky, and others to watch today and that was great as well. There will be a video of "Bob" and I talking about the practice and what we saw, but here is the written version.QBGerry Bohanon was out with the 1s first and he had his moments. I'd put him #2 of the QBs today. He still has his momenets where he isn't decisive or finding the right read. This is a new offense, but you'd still like him to bring this to the table as he learns.Jacob Zeno came out next and he's starting to separate himself a little here, IMO. His arm talent is there and he's making some reads while trusting his arm to get the ball there. Still room for improvement, but he had the best day.Blake Shapen seemed to regress a little today, but the arm talent is unquestionable. He's a gamer and tucked the ball a bit too much instead of going through the reads and pushing the ball upfield.Kyron Drones is going to be good. He is adjusting to the speed of the game and makes plays at times you shouldn't. He's more comfortable in 7 on 7 right now, but he did make solid throws in 11s.Brandon Bass is a walk-on and not afraid to force it in. He doesn't have the arm talent of the other 4 and is likely why he is a walk-on and he will be a great coach if that is where he wants to go after his career is done.RBTrestan Ebner has plenty of speed, but the area he still needs to work on is pass protection and trusting the blocks of the OL. He has a tendency to try to bounce it outside. He did better in the second half of practice when he cut inside and got extra yardage.Taye McWilliams was the second back out and he wasn't afraid to put his head in there and go for tough yards. He did have a pass go off his facemask that likely would have been a TD. He's going to be ready for the season and provide valuable carries/catches.Qualan Jones is a monster and he needs to show it more versus running upright. When he lowers his head he's a load. He did line up at FB for a few playsJonah White wasn't out there or I missed himSurprise of the day was Abram Smith getting plenty of carries and looking natural and smooth. I turned to "Bob" and said he may just end up at RB or playing both ways with the depth at LB. WRTyquan Thornton had a great TD and a few other playsRJ Sneed had one play and he got lit up at the end of it by JT Woods and they had some trash talk afterI didn't remember seeing EstradaJavon Gipson continue to impress me for a WR, not just freshman WRElijah Bean made some plays today and this was good to see as well. Seth Jones has sure hands and good speedJaylen Ellis gave up on a route Ithought would have gone for a TD, but otherwise was solid.Jackson Gleeson didn't do much todayGavin Holmes didn't practiceOLFirst team was LT Connor Galvin, Johncarlo Valentin, Xavier Newman, Micah Mazzccua, Gavin Byers Galvin was hobbled on a sprained left ankle and still solid to goodValentin had his moments of getting movement and then getting extended and beatenNewman was a bit better, but still not thereMazzccua surprised a couple of time as he was able to get movement and lock onto his manByers likely is the steal of the 2019 class for Baylor as he's going to be a good one as he maturesSecond OL was LT Elijah Ellis, Connor Heffernan, Casey Phillips, Grant Miller, Mose Jeffery Ellis is a mountain of a player and athletic. You see the flashes, but he still has struggles which should dissappear with age and experienceHeffernan has the feet, but needs the size and strength of agePhillips tried center and it was rough at times on snaps, but again, first time I've seen him there. Miller looked solid again. Not sure why he isn't at centerJeffery had his moments on run blocking, but pass blocking is likely at a guard levelThe OL overall is still a work in progress, but the learning they are doing by switching positions and groups is giving the staff a view of what they will become and what they need to work on for 2021. Finding the best five is the goal and developing the backups to step into a role if there is an injury.Defense later as well as the video of the breakdown

It was such a joy to get down to McLane on Saturday and I wanted to take a little bit to process all I saw at the practice and learned from others around the program while there. The elephants in the room remain quarterback and offensive line. I did a solid five minutes of video on offensive line drills and noted Klinge (precaution), Kimble (surgery), and Keith (minor issue) were held out. Byers was not there at all and I was later told he had an obligation to attend to and was excused. This left 10 players to practice, including transfer/walk-on Jacob Frater and true freshman Connor Heffernan. Both of these guys look out of place in the size category. The other 8 and the three there, but held out look like real DI OL. Starting OL started with Newman at C and Miller at RG. The issues I've seen with Newman at C continued with snaps being low and not consistent. The issues with him being late off the ball and being driven into the backfield also continued and Siaki Ika appeared to pick up the snap count and was dominating the LOS inside and leaving the RBs with little choice but to try to get around that mammoth pile of humanity or be tackled. Once that broke down, the rest of the DL fed off the miscues and made the play in the backfield or minimal gain. Miller moved to C after 4-5 series and the interior blocking improved. Taye McWilliams was able to pop a 40+ yards TD against the 2nd team DL as Miller crossed the NG, turned him, and then made his way to the LB in the hole. On this play, Newman kicked the DL outside. The previous play, Newman was 10 yards deep in the backfield tackling Rob Saulin's penetration. Galvin was solid and remains the best OL. Phillips had ups and downs at RT and Johncarlo Valentin is going to find his way into the mix. Mose Jeffery did not have a good day at RT and appears headed to LG or RG, depending on the C situation. Newman is a team captain, so the situation is one where Newman needs to step up his play or a captain could be on the bench. He has the ability, but it has to click.Micah Mazzccua has good size, but needs to not fall into the Khalil Keith mold of missing the game because he isn't a student of it. The OL still needs to improve and I can see the technique from Mateos drilling it into all of them, but there needs to be more dudes and not JAGS. The physical size is there. The coaching is there. It is on the players to execute now. Quarterback was a shock to see Blake Shapen run out for the first series. The RS Freshman has a lively arm and moxy, but it got the best of him on a seam route to Tyquan Thornton as Jalen Pitre was able to undercut it and take it back 50+ yards on the interception. Jacob Zeno came in and looked more poised than last year and was able to make plays and lead the team to scores against the 2nd team DL. The throws were essentially all good and he looked to take command in this practice. I'll state that once more, this practice. ONE PRACTICE.Gerry Bohanon came on third and took that amount of reps and struggled at times and flashing at times. Running behind the 2nd team OL was likely frustrating as pressure was coming from JACK and DL on each snap. In other practices, Bohanon has been best, per those around the program, so the battle isn't over between the three.Kyron Drones drips with ability, but his development will take a bit of time and he'll be one to watch going forward. He had a beautiful pass dropped in the end zone. The pass is one we would not have seen last year as it required a different arm strength.All four have more arm talent than Charlie, but each will need to become the winner he was at the DI level. Running backs were bigger. Much bigger than the previous two years. Nothing to add here as they're talented and just need holes. Wide receivers look to have taken a big jump. RJ Sneed was in the slot, along with Gavin Holmes and each made great plays. Holmes hauled in a TD across the middle and then left to have his foot/ankle retaped and was held out for the remaineder of the practice. Thorntion was back to running with his speed, but the one that popped off the field was Jackson Gleeson. The speedster from Mansfield looks to be healthy and serious to make an impression. I knew he was fast, but to see him accellerate and run away from a DB with an angle was special. Javon Gipson and Elijah Bean showed better than usual freshmen when compared to the current players on campus. Jaylen Ellis also had some athletic plays and a TD where he adjusted to the ball, threw the DB down, and then drug him into the end zone. DL is deep. Nothing to add, but extremely happy there.LB looked good/great.DB group looked good. Barnes got beat for a TD.Ask away