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Anu Solomon, Zach Smith set for an interesting QB battle at Baylor
Anu Solomon’s transfer adds a heavily experienced starter into a young quarterback battle. Baylor’s fall could be mitigated with this move.
Baylor’s controversial offseason resulted in the Bears’ worst season since 2010. A large part of the struggles stemmed from the quarterback position. Seth Russell never returned to form after his neck injury in 2015, and Zach Smith went through the growing pains of a young quarterback. Fortunately for the Bears, Arizona’s Anu Solomon could be the answer to that problem.
Solomon will take advantage of the highly publicized “graduate transfer” rule and head to Waco. The soon-to-be senior quarterback built himself quite the career in Rich Rodriguez’s explosive offense. However, injuries cost him the starting job in 2016, leading to his transfer.
Solomon led the Wildcats to a Pac-12 Championship appearance and Fiesta Bowl appearance in his magical 2014 freshman season. He threw for 3,793 yards, 28 touchdowns and just nine interceptions while rushing for 291 yards and two touchdowns.
Solomon’s sophomore season wasn’t bad, but he began to struggle with injuries during the 2015 and 2016 campaigns. He missed two games in 2015, but he still threw for 2,667 yards, 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
A 7-6 season for Arizona called his job into question. He would lose the job due to a knee injury early in the 2016 season. He managed to keep turnovers fairly low tossing just 16 interceptions in more than two seasons of play. His completion percentage of 59.6 shows his erratic accuracy at times.
His game is constructed as more of passer than a runner diverting from many of Rodriguez’s past signal callers. He is a quick-footed scrambler, and he can run when forced to. But he regularly scrambled to buy time to throw. He displays great touch on the ball, whether he is in the pocket or on the run.
His health was the biggest knock on his Arizona tenure. If he can stay healthy, he’ll have a shot at the job.
Zach Smith, Charlie Brewer
Smith did a more-than-capable job as the starter in his five games of action. He lost three of his four starts, but they were to Kansas State (9-4), Texas Tech (their record was terrible, but Patrick Mahomes) and West Virginia (10-3). Regardless, he managed to beat a 10-3 Boise State team in the bowl game.
He put up some nice numbers throwing for 1,526 yards and 13 touchdowns, but he also tossed seven interceptions. He’s not nearly as mobile as Solomon, but he’s a strong, tall, prototypical quarterback standing at 6-foot-4, 235-pounds. He’s also got a leg up on the competition with two years already spent at Baylor.
True freshman Charlie Brewer is the wildcard of this group. He put up big numbers on Lake Travis’ 2016 state championship squad. He needs to put on some weight to take the punishment of the collegiate game. He weighs just 188 pounds, but his production can’t be ignored.
He threw for 8,363 yards, 107 touchdowns against 11 interceptions in his career, while rushing for 1,442 yards and 18 touchdowns. He may be the least likely candidate, but with true freshmen like Shane Buechele and Jalen Hurts performing the way they did. He’s not out of the battle.
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