A peek inside the Baylor quarterbacks room: Shapen, Bears ready to bounce back

Blake Shapen’s biggest fan is also his biggest competition.
When Sawyer Robertson transferred from Mississippi State to Baylor in the offseason, he expected to compete for the starting job.
After Shapen was named the starter soon after the spring game, Robertson shifted from competitor to cheerleader.
“I hope he has the year of his life,” Robertson said. “I’m so excited to see what he does this year.”
Robertson, a former four-star prospect who put up big numbers in high school at Lubbock Coronado, was exactly the kind of player that Shapen needed to give him that extra boost.
“Sawyer has been great,” Shapen said. “He’s a great player (and) a great person. He has a bunch of energy. To be able to have a guy like him to be able to push me, and help push the other guys around us, has been good for us.”
Sawyer Robertson played only sparingly at Mississippi State, but he ranks in the top 15 in Texas high school football history in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns.
The quarterback room has gone from one of the thinnest spots on the roster last season to one of the deepest in the blink of an eye.
Joining Shapen and Robertson are junior Northern Arizona transfer R.J. Martinez, redshirt freshman Brayson McHenry and true freshman Cade Tessier.
Robertson played sparingly in his two seasons with the Bulldogs, but ranks in the top 15 all-time in Texas high school football history in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Martinez has much more college experience, winning Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year in 2021 at Northern Arizona and finishing with more than 4,500 yards and 30 touchdowns in two years with the Lumberjacks.
“We're really deep in the quarterback room,” Robertson said. “All five of us work hard and support each other because we spend a lot of time together. I feel really good about the depth, and there shouldn't be any issues with the quarterback room this year.”
All of the quarterbacks have been working hard since the spring to get in a groove with each other and the receivers.
While Shapen and Robertson were battling it out for the starting job throughout the spring, Martinez continued to learn the system and turned some heads when he finished 4-for-7 for 49 yards in the spring game in April.
“It's been nice these past couple of days to kind of see that come to fruition out on the field,” Martinez said. “The timing has been a lot better since the spring. It's been a really good first few days for us and we look to continue that moving forward throughout the rest of the fall.”
“We're really deep in the quarterback room,” said transfer quarterback Sawyer Robertson. “All five of us work hard and support each other because we spend a lot of time together."
Rod Aydelotte, Tribune-Herald
One thing is for sure: this is still Shapen’s team.
The Louisiana native burst onto the scene in 2021, winning his first two starts as a redshirt freshman against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Title game.
His sophomore season was more inconsistent. He threw seven touchdowns and one interception in the first four games but had 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions in the final nine games of the season.
“It was tough,” he said. “But it was good for me to be able to grow from it and see what it looks like going through a whole season, experiencing some losses and things like that. I’m looking to take things from (last) year and the year before and be able to keep moving forward.”
Head coach Dave Aranda challenged Shapen to not just be more consistent but to start being more of the vocal leader that an incumbent starting quarterback at a big-time program is expected to be.
“I saw good things from Blake today,” Aranda said after the first day of practice on Thursday. “On the times where there was a struggle, you're hearing him. It’s really cool to see. I think he's in a groove with leadership and all of it. He knows what he wants and he's right in front.”
Shapen will have plenty of options to throw to as the top three wide receivers from last year’s team — Monaray Baldwin, Hal Presley and Josh Cameron — are all back.
Plus, speedy Arkansas transfer Ketron Jackson has joined the fold and looks ready to help the offense stand out in a league filled with dynamic offensive groups.
“(Shapen) has definitely been working in the offseason, working on his reads and all that stuff, but I’d say the main thing would definitely be his leadership role,” Cameron said. “He’s being more vocal, moving guys around. I think that’s a huge improvement.”
Confidence isn’t an issue for Shapen. He has won a Big 12 title with the Bears, and they weren’t too far away from a spot in the playoff. With a wide-open conference, their sights are once again set high this season.
Why not?
“We want to win a Big 12 championship and go to the College Football Playoff,” Shapen said. “That’s the goal every year for us, to be able to set those goals and have those standards. That’s what we’re doing in fall camp, coming to work every single day to reach those goals.”