Should Baylor Football QB DJ Lagway Play Against Prairie View?
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Lagway suffered a sprained ankle after a first-quarter hurdle in week one against Auburn; he finished the game, but was clearly unable to put much pressure on his right leg.
"DJ is a day-to-day guy," coach Dave Aranda said. "We want to play him."
There is a lot of controversy on whether junior quarterback DJ Lagway should be on the field this Saturday against the visiting Prairie View A&M. Let's take a look at both sides of the coin:
'Lagway shouldn't play'
Less than a week ago, DJ couldn't put an ounce of pressure on his right leg without wincing in pain. Skeptics say there is nothing to gain by playing Lagway and risking further injury against an opponent like Prairie View, who could surely be beaten by one of the Baylor backup signal callers.
There is also an argument that there is no better time to see what those backups are made of. Nate Bennett and Edward Griffin could be called on at any moment of the season.
As fifth-year cornerback Reggie Bush II said, "You're one play away from getting on the field every game." A game where the Bears are heavily favored is a good time to see what the quarterback room is fully made of.
'Lagway should play'
The other side of the coin is that Lagway needs all the time to settle into the Baylor offense that he can before getting into Big 12 play. Prairie View isn't Auburn, but they are an FCS football team that should still be taken seriously.
"Prairie View is still a good team," Bush II said. "Don't get me wrong, they've got a bunch of athletes on that team. We're just trying to keep our focus on keeping our eyes right, doing our play how we're supposed to play."
The best way for Baylor to take care of business on Saturday is putting Lagway on the field for at least the first half, and that seems to be the plan for Aranda.
Verdict
If it were up to me, I would play Lagway no more than two or three drives against the Panthers. The ideal case scenario is that DJ can get the Bears a healthy lead without jeopardizing his ankle before rolling out a backup to take the Bears home.
I think the smart decision is to not play Lagway at all and feed the hot hand between Nate Bennett and Edward Griffin. Allowing the backups to get some game experience before potentially throwing them into a bigger role later in the season.
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Bennett is an undergrad student at Baylor University, studying journalism on the sports track. He is from the DFW area and grew up playing and watching sports, which inspired him to pursue sports writing.
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