The college football transfer portal received another high-end gunslinger on Tuesday. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Baylor football’s Blake Shapen intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
Shapen will immediately become eligible upon transferring. He joins Will Rogers (Mississippi State), Will Howard (Kansas State), and Max Johnson (Texas A&M), among others, as the top signal callers within the portal.
Blake Shapen: Baylor Football Career
Blake Shapen joined the Baylor football program from way of Shreveport, Louisiana, in 2020. The three-star prospect earned playing time as a redshirt freshman in 2021, throwing for 596 yards and five scores against no interceptions. He took over as the starter in 2022, tossing 18 touchdowns with ten picks in 13 games. He completed 64% of his passes for 2,790 yards.
Injuries limited Shapen in 2023, throwing for 13 touchdowns and three interceptions in eight games. However, against the UCF Knights in early October, Shapen engineered Baylor’s most significant comeback victory in school history. Trailing 35-7 in the third quarter, Shapen and the Bears went on to win 36-35. The six-foot signal-caller threw for 293 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers. However, it wasn’t enough to stop Baylor from finishing in the basement of the final Big 12 standings.
Baylor Football: Retaining HC Dave Aranda
Baylor announced they would retain head coach Dave Aranda for the 2024 season. Aranda led the Bears to a Sugar Bowl victory in 2021 but has won just nine games in the next two seasons combined. The higher-ups agreed to bring back Aranda for another go, albeit letting offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes go. The bench boss must quickly right the ship for job security purposes. It starts with him finding an answer at quarterback with Blake Shapen’s impending departure.
Outside the off-and-on injured Shapen, the Bears played Sawyer Robertson and RJ Martinez at quarterback this season. Robertson struggled, completing just 56% of his passes for two touchdowns against four picks. However, he played great in the season finale against West Virginia last Saturday, going 17-of-19 for 215 yards and a score. Meanwhile, Martinez completed 12-fo-24 passes for 110 yards with no scores or picks in three games. Both were three-star prospects in high school, per 247Sports. The Bears also inked Nate Bennett for the upcoming class. He is also a three-star recruit.
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