Dave Aranda: Baylor To Target Transfer Portal for QB Help
Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said the Bears will be on the lookout for a quarterback in the transfer portal starting in January.
Aranda made that statement during an Early Signing Day news conference.
It comes on the heels of seeing its top recruiting target — Dripping Springs, Texas, quarterback Austin Novosad — flip to Oregon.
Novosad was committed to the Bears for nearly a year before the Ducks swooped in at the last minute to flip his commitment and secure his signature for their Class of 2023. The Ducks only came after Novosad because they lost out on five-star quarterback Dante Moore, who signed with UCLA.
That puts the Bears in a bit of a corner, one that they hope to fill by the Jan. 18 transfer window deadline.
Novosad, rated a four-star prospect and one of the top commitments in Baylor’s class, was supposed to bolster the program’s quarterback pipeline, especially after Kyron Drones chose to transfer to Virginia Tech.
That leaves the Bears with a young quarterback room behind starter Blake Shapen, who beat out Gerry Bohanon for the starting job last spring but didn’t quite live up to expectations. He threw for 2,602 yards, 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 104 yards and two scores. More importantly for Baylor fans, the team went from a 12-2 season in which it won the Big 12 Championship Game to going 6-6 and playing Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl on Thursday.
Who could the Bears land? Well, per 247Sports.com, the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal right now include Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall, Texas’ Hudson Card, Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong and Ole Miss’ Luke Altmyer.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
