What I'm Watching For the Most At Baylor's Fall Football Camp
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Fall camp is underway for the Baylor Bears as they’re trying to shake off a difficult 2025 campaign with a bounce back in 2026.
The Bears have a plethora of newcomers, some guys returning from injury, and an intriguing group of players returning to the program hoping to shake off last year’s debacle.
Fall camp is a time for optimism and improvement. The question then becomes what storylines are going to emerge from camp.
Here are the ones that I am watching closest as football season begins in earnest.
DJ Lagway
Tupac Shakur had a song called “All Eyez On Me”.
It’s hard to think that DJ Lagway may not feel the same way as he steps onto the field as the starting quarterback for the Baylor Bears. Lagway’s father played here, and now he’s being billed as the savior of the program after last year’s poor season.
Lagway is a former five-star recruit, but he is far from a finished product at this stage of his career. Lagway struggled last year at Florida. He’s still learning a new offense with Jake Spavital at the controls.
He has a brand new group of pass catchers to build a rapport with as well. There are a lot of things that Lagway has to pick up quickly, but that’s the burden of being a quarterback at any level of football. It’s an even bigger burden when you’re being paid to play the position.
It’s the burden that Lagway must accept. The quicker he gets acclimated, the better.
Receiver Rotation
Of course, Lagway cannot catch his own passes. That likely would not go very well if that was Baylor’s plan.
There is not a lot of experience returning at receiver, and Baylor went heavy into the portal with notable additions of Dre’lon Miller and Gavin Freeman to try and build an offense around their quarterback.
Our top-25 countdown list had five receivers in it. Three of them were ranked in the top 10. With Josh Cameron and Michael Trigg off to the NFL, the Bears have a lot of production to replace at the skill positions in the offense.
Someone has to emerge. One player probably isn’t enough to emerge either. They’ll need multiple players to take a leap into being a consistent contributor.
Who is rotating in with the starters most frequently, and who if anyone is being featured will be something to monitor.
Offensive Line
Quarterback is important, but there has never been a quarterback in the history of football to complete a pass on his back.
For all the focus on Baylor’s quarterback and receiver situation, the offensive line has a lot of work in front of it as well. There is only one returning starter, and the rest of the situation has been clunky to say the very least.
A player they hoped would be their starting center is now coaching.
As much as Lagway hopes to resurrect his career at Baylor, it’s going to be hard to do that if he’s running for his life. Baylor’s run game has some potential as well, but the line needs to be able to open up holes for their talented backs to gallop into the secondary.
Finding their best combination and allowing them to gel quickly is paramount for their success on offense.
Travion Barnes
The defensive side of the ball is where one of the biggest things to watch lies. Travion Barnes was slated to be one of their top players a season ago but missed the majority of the season with a knee injury that he suffered.
Now, Barnes has worked his way back and is looking to pick up where he left off.
What are the coaches and his teammates saying about his recovery? Has he lost any athleticism as a result? What are the expectations for him as the season goes on?
All of those questions cannot be fully answered in fall camp, but they do need to have some idea of what they’re getting from their talented linebacker.
Intensity and Energy Levels
Anyone around the Baylor football program has to know what is at stake this season. Dave Aranda’s job is on the line, and anytime the head coach is on the hot seat, typically players are too.
Players may commit to individual teams rather than programs these days, but the fear of the unknown can be a driving force for those around the team.
If Aranda gets fired, roles can change for players that he recruited. Those players then have a lot of uncertainty surrounding their futures.
Does that lead to an increase in intensity and attention to detail in fall camp? If nothing else, urgency should be at an all-time high.
Fall camp kicked off today and #Baylor released its official roster for the season.
— Baylor Bears On SI (@BaylorBearsOnSI) August 5, 2026
Jae'lin Battle at 303 pounds 👀
London Smith built and looks the part 👀👀
A few notable jersey changes and other tidbits.#SicEm
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Jacob Westendorf is a contributing writer for Baylor Bears on SI. He is also a writer covering the Green Bay Packers for Packers on SI. Westendorf graduated from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay where he earned a degree in communication with an emphasis in journalism and mass media. He worked in newspapers in Green Bay and Rockford, Illinois. He also interned at Packer Report for Bill Huber while earning his degree. In 2018, he became a staff writer for PackerReport.com, and a regular contributor on Packer Report's "Pack A Day Podcast." In 2020, he founded the media company Game On Wisconsin. In 2023, he rejoined Packer Central, which is part of Sports Illustrated Media Group.