Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Depth up front still Baylor's top fall camp concern

WACO, Texas – Baylor coach Jim Grobe knows he has a great senior quarterback in Seth Russell. He knows he has four quality running backs. The numbers and talent at receiver, linebacker and in the secondary still look good.

“The issues for me are in the offensive and defensive lines,” Grobe said.

Going into his first practice as the leader of the Bears on Thursday, Grobe knew the biggest on-field challenge his staff must address in August are depth concerns up front. Baylor entered fall camp with “right around” 70 scholarship players by Grobe’s count, putting the program about 15 under the 85-man limit.

Based on the updated 2016 roster Baylor released, the scholarship count appears to be exactly 70. Of course, that number can be a bit fluid. Grobe said four or five walk-ons might have a chance to earn scholarships in fall camp and will get long looks.

Whether it’s 70 or 75, it’s not ideal. And the shortage is most apparent on the lines.

The Bears already had to replace a combined 237 starts along their offensive and defensive lines. Then they lost most of their incoming reinforcements. Offensive linemen Patrick Hudson and J.P. Urquidez could’ve helped early but are now at Texas. Defensive end Brandon Bowen enrolled at TCU. Three juco transfers -- B.J. Autry, Jeremy Faulk and DeQuinton Osborne – aren't here, either.

That leaves four newcomers: defensive linemen Bravvion Roy, Micheal Johnson and Will Jones plus offensive linemen Tyrae Simmons (once he’s cleared).

Baylor still has K.J. Smith back at defensive end along with four relatively unproven backups. The defensive tackle spot is down to Byron Bonds (who’s injured), Andrew Morris, Ira Lewis and the three freshmen. Grobe does know one solution there: Expect to see more of the three-man fronts that Baylor relied upon late last season and worked on this spring.

The offensive line, on the other hand, is a bit more challenging for Grobe to judge.

“The problem is, we’ll be lucky to be two-deep up front in the offensive line,” he said.

Grobe added the staff currently has seven offensive linemen they believe they can win with. He’s probably not counting suspended lineman Rami Hammad, who was supposed to start at right guard. Developing inexperienced backups is a must this month.

“I know that this is what camp is all about: seeing who’s gonna be that guy during the season,” senior center Kyle Fuller said. “That’s gonna be the big thing going into these next couple weeks. The guys that are young are gonna have to realize they’re not young anymore.”

And they’re gonna have to protect Russell at all costs. Not just because he’s coming off a season-ending injury, but because he no longer has an experienced backup. Because Jarrett Stidham (destination TBD) and Chris Johnson (Houston) left, true freshman Zach Smith can't redshirt and must grow up quick.

“We were joking about that the other day,” Russell said. “We were in a meeting and I said, ‘Coach, we burning his 'shirt yet?’ Coach said it’s already burnt. He’s going to get a lot of experience this year.”

Russell likes what he’s seen from his understudy Smith, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder with a big arm whose build and game have evoked comparisons to Bryce Petty. He’ll get a lot of reps this month.

Grobe will be watching closely, that’s for sure. He wants to get creative about balancing out the need for good reps against the need to keep his players fresh. More work for third-stringers, for example. Extra special-teams periods. Can’t ask too much of the big fellas in camp with a long season still ahead.

“It’s going to be competitive,” Grobe said, “and we’re just hoping a couple guys that we don’t know a lot about will give us some depth.”

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