Baylor's Three-Man QB2 Battle Remains Open Behind DJ Lagway

Jake Spavital is evaluating three quarterbacks behind the Florida transfer as they look to solidify their 2026-27 QB contingency plan

Offensive Coordinator Jake Spavital | Baylor Athletics

Baylor enters fall camp with DJ Lagway established as its starting quarterback, but the competition behind him remains unsettled.

Recently, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital noted that Nate Bennett, Edward Griffin, and true freshman Quinn Murphy are continuing to split opportunities as the Bears work toward setting the remainder of the depth chart. With only so many practice snaps available, Spavital said Baylor needs a larger body of work before separating the three.

"It's a battle between Nate (Bennett) and Ed (Griffin) and Quinn (Murphy)," said Spavital. "Like all three of them had their moments, and it gets tough repping them evenly, so you can't really make that decision once you kind of get more of a resume built on all of them. Like I already know what Nate can do and Ed can do, but you got to give Quinn the opportunity to go out there and play."

"Quinn's a very talented individual, he's one of the faster guys on our team. His game is a bit different, he can run, he's athletic surprisingly and he's very smart when he's doing it and his game is a little bit different than everybody else's, but it's fun watching all these guys just put it together out there and just kind of have their little spin on the offense, but it's a great competition between these three right now."

Nate Bennett is the most experienced

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Bennett checks in as the most experienced option in Spavital's system. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound junior served as Sawyer Robertson's primary backup in each of the last two seasons and won the No. 2 job during the 2025 preseason. He has completed 6 of 9 career passes for 53 yards in limited action.

His familiarity has not removed him from the competition, but Spavital has seen a change in how Bennett processes the offense entering his third year in the program.

"Yeah, Nate had a great practice today," Spavital said last week. "One of the better ones I've seen in a while. Again, throwing a lot of install at him, but like his just maturity and the confidence in who he is. He's got great arm talent and I've always told him, 'never lose that confidence of like how well you can throw the football', and I've just seen the maturity of him going through progressions."

"When I had him here in 202,4 for the first time and he was just trying to force throws, because he's got that, you know, really great arm talent, but I'm seeing the maturity of him just operate and move through progressions. Like, he hit a touchdown on the last drive of practice today on a check down and that's growth to me. He's turning into a really good quarterback."

Griffin and Murphy aren't going down without a fight

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Meanwhile, Griffin is entering his second season at Baylor after redshirting without appearing in a game as a freshman. The 6-foot-1, 213-pound Coppell product arrived in Waco after throwing for 6,360 yards, 81 touchdowns and six interceptions across his final two high school seasons. He completed 76.8% of his attempts as a senior while leading Coppell to a 12-1 finish.

Murphy offers the newest evaluation for Baylor's coaching staff. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound freshman finished his high school career with 168 passing touchdowns, the third-most in Texas HSFB history, and added 607 rushing yards and six scores during his senior season at Liberty Christian.

That rushing ability gives Murphy a different element within the competition, while Bennett and Griffin have more time operating Spavital's offense. For now, Baylor is continuing to build the practice resume Spavital said is needed before the Bears settle on Lagway's primary backup.