Why Dequan Finn is a great fit at Baylor with new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital

The Baylor quarterback room has gotten very friendly with the transfer portal over the recent years, whether that’s guys coming or going. This offseason, the Bears sent a starter out and got back another.

That new starter is former Toledo star Dequan Finn, who is of course an unknown at the Big 12 level coming from the MAC, but is no-doubt a terrific football player and coule offer upside no other Dave Aranda QB has. On Friday morning’s On3 YouTube live show, Andy Staples and Cody Bellaire examined Finn’s ceiling in Waco and what the portal turnaround means for Baylor.

“The have been three really good quarterbacks who have played for Baylor, that have gone on now to be potential starters or current starters at other schools at the Power Four level,” Bellaire pointed out, in reference to Blake Shapen (Mississippi State), Kyron Drones (Virginia Tech) and Gerry Bohannon (BYU).

“I still think Dequan Finn might be the best one of the bunch,” Bellaire added. “To your point Andy, is he good enough to save Aranda’s job? I want to say maybe, he just might be. What do you think?”

Following a rough ’23 season, Aranda needs to come through in ’24 or that Big 12 title goodwill could soon run dry.

“We shall see,” says Staples, who is curious if the new OC plus QB combo could spark a better result this fall. “It’s a different offense. Jeff Grimes was the offensive coordinator, he’s now at Kansas. Jake Spavital comes in.”

Staples sees some key differences between Spavital and Grimes.

“One of the issues I think they have, and Dave Aranda pointed this out, he didn’t feel like the offensive line was old enough, mature enough, ready to play, that they should have hit the portal harder.”

Staples added that Grimes’ outsize zone scheme demanded terrific play and elite athleticism on the OL, which was there in 2021, but not so much in 2023. Under Spavital and a different system, that’s not the case for the ’24 Baylor squad.

“You can work and function without a bunch of studs up front,” said Staples of Spavital’s system, “and I think that probably helps Dequan Finn this year as well.”

Plus, Finn is the modern quarterback and plenty capable on his legs and can be a spontaneous playmaker when the situation calls for it.

“He’s creative. If things do break down, he’s able to make things happen outside the pocket, inside the pocket, he can create on his own, you can do designed runs with him if need be,” added Bellaire.

“Dequan Finn is a truck, he’s the one dragging the trailer behind him. That offense goes as he goes, and I think Finn could be the right guy and in the right place for this season.”