"Anu" Start at Baylor: Can transfer Anu Solomon start for Baylor?

Hope that title helps clear up any confusion about his name: Anu Solomon is starting “a new” at Baylor.

Now the bigger question that likely won’t be answered until the week before the Bears’ opener against Liberty is whether he’ll start under center. Matt Rhule said throughout spring practices that it’s an open competition between Solomon, Zach Smith, and true freshman Charlie Brewer.

Each quarterback has an argument to be made but Solomon’s situation at Baylor may be the most intriguing storyline. A once incredibly promising gunslinger at Arizona with vivid NFL dreams, he has just one year of eligibility but may be the third-stringer behind Smith and Brewer just as quick as he could be the starter.

Why he could start:

This is a new playbook for the entire roster, so no one has a particularly great advantage with that. An argument can be made that Brewer and Smith have a better handle right now based on spring practice footage and the spring game, the former looking the most accurate overall but remember, media had roughly 10 minutes per practice of real assessment and the spring game is only one moment of hundreds of hours coaches are assessing.

What is known of Solomon, though, is he has a great deep ball that can make up for any accuracy concerns as does his mobility. Rhule said these, along with his leadership, are two of his most attractive qualities under center that make this such a delicate competition.

His résumé from Arizona has a lot to say about that ability. In his first two, healthy seasons as a Wildcat, he had six games over 300 yards in 25 games including a program-record 520 yards his freshman year against California. More importantly, he left the desert with a record of seven games without an interception. While his completion rate of 59.5 percentage leaves something desired, his mistakes are kept at a minimum.

One also has to imagine his seniority will play into the situation if it’s not being said. He’s not going to be in the green and gold for very long, it’d be a shame if his transfer is used just as a mentorship. At the very least, he could be thrown in more often against Liberty and UTSA, getting a read on how he works compared to Smith and Brewer in live-action.

Why he could sit:

Rhule said — in the most coach answer possible — that whoever can create the most touchdown drives will win the starting spot. Not terribly original but it’s the only answer. If the spring game is any indication, this isn’t Solomon’s role to lose, it’s Brewer’s spot.

Brewer strung together two touchdown drives while Smith had one and Solomon’s drives were D.O.A., failing to reach the end zone.

As much as seniority helps dictate who’s on the field, if Solomon can’t move the Bears down the field to compete with offenses like Texas Tech or Oklahoma State, his year in Waco could be a managerial position- that’s not entirely bad.

During Solomon’s transfer process, he looked at the quarterback situation without hesitation. In an interview with ESPN, he said he wouldn’t try to hide any secrets or tricks about the game or playbook from his younger counterparts. If pointing out something in the playbook to Brewer would make the team better, he’d be sure to “continue to share my knowledge of the game.”

Looking at his reel from Arizona, he did have a tendency to crash under the brightest lights. In his freshman season, Solomon led the Wildcats to the PAC-12 title game only to fall 51-13 while he completed just 6-of-12 passes for 34 yards. He also had -23 yards on the ground, unable to evade the Ducks’ sacks per usual.

His followup performance in the Fiesta Bowl wasn’t much better, losing to Boise State while posting 335 yards with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions.

Those were building moments for Solomon but should be examples of what he may revert to if the Big 12’s pressure gets past the trenches.