Ladies and gentlemen, we now have an official declaration on who is the quarterback to beat with the departure of Bryce Petty. Seth Russell is the number one quarterback in Waco according to Baylor head coach Art Briles.
“Somebody is going to have to beat out Seth Russell for the QB job,” Briles said when meeting with the media Tuesday (per Tom O’Donnell via Twitter).
This hardly comes as a surprise given Russell was Petty’s back-up that saw the most time on the field last season. Russell, now entering his junior year with Baylor, passed for 804 yards and eight touchdowns to just one interception in his time filling in for Petty.
The other quarterbacks in the conversation are Chris Johnson and freshman Jarrett Stidham. Johnson appeared in four games in 2014 and attempted just one pass as a redshirt freshman. Stidham is one of the top additions in Baylor’s Class of 2015. Stidham enrolled early so he could be available for spring practices. He had previously been committed to Texas Tech before switching his decision in December, shortly before planning to enroll at Texas Tech.
For now the job is Russell’s to lose. Odds are pretty decent he will manage to hold on to it through the spring and again this fall, however Baylor fans should be eager to see what Stidham has to offer when his time does inevitably come. There is no rush to get Stidham on the field with Russell appearing more than capable of handling the job of starting quarterback.