Eight starts as a true freshman and his first offseason in a college football program under his belt means a lot for Baylor sophomore offensive guard Xavier Newman. It means that when he takes the field for the first time in the 2018 season, he won't be and inexperienced, underdeveloped true freshman any longer.
Newman arrived in Waco during the early part of the summer in 2017 and though he knew Baylor's offensive line was thin, he wasn't expecting to be asked to take over a starting position five games into his career. But he was, and when senior Ishmael Wilson left the program in the middle of the season, he found only himself on the depth chart at the position.
Matthew McBrayer
Xavier Newman saw time at center along with guard during the spring.
"I mean, being a freshman playing at such a high level is pretty good experience for me," Newman said. "Coming into the spring and having that experience, I had an eye opener at some of the looks and defenses so going against it in the spring has really helped me a lot."
At DeSoto, Newman was able to use his strength and size to overpower most of his counterparts. His play earned him offers from all over the country, as well as an invitation to play in the Under Armour All-American Game, and was committed to both Texas and Colorado before landing with the Bears.
Once he arrived at Baylor, that strength advantage he had in high school was quickly negated by older and more mature players.
Taking the field against No. 3 Oklahoma at less than 290 pounds, Newman's first career start for the Bears was quite different than the last start of his high school career against Cibolo Steele in Texas High School State Championship, a game which the Eagles won.
The good news is that now he's been doing it for nearly an entire year, including facing all nine Big 12 opponents and his own teammates.
"I’m going against people like Ira Lewis and Bravvion Roy so they’re helping bring me along, too, going against guys like that size each and every week in the Big 12," Newman said. "That’s helped me a lot."
"I’m doing more reacting. At first, I was thinking about it more because I didn’t have exposure to it, but now I’m just reacting to it."
Listed at an even 300 pounds by Baylor's official online roster, Newman will play his sophomore season with at least 10 additional pounds from last fall. While it might not sound like much, 12 months of weight training means that 10 extra pounds is joined with significant boost of strength.
"If you ask me, out of those young guys, he’s probably had the most growth so far."
- Shawn Bell
"This year I’m way more stronger," Newman said. "I’ve been improving my strength in the weight room and that’s really helped me a lot. I’m trying to keep that going so it can help my game more."
As the Bears hope to improve their offensive line play across the board, any additional boost in strength would be welcomed.
However, even if Newman sticks to course without much improvement this summer, offensive line coach Shawn Bell knows Newman was during this spring and will continue to be a different player this fall.
"I think Xavier Newman has grown tremendously," Bell said. "He got thrown into the fire last year as a freshman and not just from an X’s and O’s standpoint, but from a physical standpoint. He’s gotten so much stronger.
"He comes off the ball with a fire. We have a daily competition of who has the most knock downs and he’s in that every single day. That’s what you saw as a senior in high school. You saw him dominate the line of scrimmage. You saw him being physical at the point of attack. Last year I think he may have been thinking a little bit. Now in the spring he’s got a half of a year under his belt and you see him dominate at the line of scrimmage.
"If you ask me, out of those young guys, he’s probably had the most growth so far."
