What Baylor Has in QB Kyron Drones
Baylor Bears coach Dave Aranda said Monday it's still "too early to tell" whether quarterback Blake Shapen (head) will be able to start Saturday's homecoming matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks.
Luckily for Bears fans, Aranda feels the team will be in good hands if they have to turn the keys over to backup quarterback Kyron Drones.
"I thought Kyron had some really strong poise and some confidence," Aranda said. "Really up until that last drive [against West Virginia] he put the ball where it needed to be."
Drones was one of the bright spots in Baylor's inexplicable 43-40 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers Thursday, as the redshirt freshman helped the Bears keep pace in a whacky game. He went 7-14 for 95 yards with a touchdown and a pick in relief of Shapen.
The Bears coaching staff showed the confidence they had in Drones almost right away. After Shapen left the game with a head injury on a scary collision in the third quarter, the Bears kept the offense on the field on 4th and goal from the West Virginia three-yard line. As if that vote of confidence wasn't enough, offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes called a pass play for the young quarterback, and Drones fired a strike to Hal Presley for the score.
Drones led another touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, but couldn't move the ball a yard after Dillon Doyle's interception deep in Mountaineer territory so the Bears had to settle for a game-tying field goal.
With young signal callers, however, the drive certainly could have been worse. At least, that's what his coaches saw.
"There wasn't any trying to make things happen when things weren't necessarily there," Aranda said. "I thought he was seeing things clear."
Drones came to Baylor with quite a pedigree, having led Shadow Creek High School to an undefeated Texas state championship season in 2019 and were ranked as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the state. There was plenty of competition for his signature, but he eventually chose the Bears over SEC powers Ole Miss and Auburn as well as Big 12 rival TCU.
The backup's arm talent was unquestionably on display Thursday, with a few perfectly thrown balls to Gavin Holmes and Monaray Baldwin keeping drives alive for the Bears. His unflappability made it look like he was a grizzled veteran rather than a kid taking his first meaningful snaps of the year. Before Thursday, his standout Baylor performance was against Albany, when he threw for 100 yards and added a rushing touchdown in garbage time of a blowout, season-opening victory.
If Drones does get the nod Saturday, the game will feature two backup quarterbacks, both of whom would be relieving starters with promising starts to the season, as the Jayhawks have had to turn to Jason Bean for the time being as Jalon Daniels is listed as week-to-week but is not expected to play Saturday.
Aranda also said he does not know whether running back Sqwirl Williams will be available Saturday.
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You can follow Cameron Stuart on Twitter @RealCamStuart
Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.