By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Something of a jack-of-all-trades, Baylor sophomore Gavin Yates plays tight end, H-back and fullback on offense, fills in as needed on special teams and could probably step in at linebacker in the flip of a switch.
Ultimately, Yates said, “it’s kind of whatever (offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes) says.”
“I’m not the biggest tight end, I will say. I’m not the tallest,” said the 6-foot-3, 248-pound Yates, a tight end and defensive end at Frisco Memorial High School. “I don’t put my hand in the dirt a lot, so I’m off the ball and move in different directions and filling holes. I think it fits my game a lot more than per se Drake (Dabney), who’s on the ball.”
Yates said the commonality in his various positions is you “hit people really hard, run through their face and just narrow hands to get underneath their chest, pad level.”
While he was mainly used as a blocker last season, Yates scored on a two-yard touchdown run against Kansas and finished his true freshman season with four catches for 35 yards.
THREE GOALS: A preseason All-Big 12 pick who was named to the Mackey Award watch list, fifth-year senior Ben Sims is the most productive tight end in program history with 47 catches for 530 yards and nine touchdowns.
But even after posting career-best numbers last season with 31 receptions for 361 yards and six TDs, the 6-5, 258-pound Sims said he had “three main goals coming into fall camp – to be better on the front side of the wide zone, making the contested catches and being able to lean on other teammates.”
“Sometimes, I feel like I don’t push myself on my teammates, and I feel that leaning on them shows the team aspect,” Sims said. “I’ve learned vulnerability. Sometimes, being bottled up is easy to do. Letting yourself out there is kind of difficult. Being more open, communicating more with the entire offense, I feel like I’ve impacted others.”
During the fall camp, Sims said he has “been put in a lot of situations, not necessarily just running the routes I’ve been running in the past, but expanding my tool box, learning new routes and learning how to play through certain defenses. I think I’ve been getting better at that.”
IT HELPS TO KNOW: The tight ends have some built-in advantages in Grimes being the offensive coordinator and their position coach. Specifically, he’s going to use them.
With multiple-tight end sets, Sims and Dabney had a combined 21 starts last season. As a group, the tight ends hauled in 45 passes for 487 yards and nine touchdowns.
“I think it’s really no different,” said Dabney, a third-year junior who made eight starts last season, hauling in 10 passes for 91 yards and two TDs.
“If he was the wide receiver coach, he’s still going to use the tight ends the same way, because that’s just part of our offense. Yes, it gives us an advantage in the meeting room sometimes, because he explains kind of the whole concept behind the play. But, he treats every position group the same. They’re just as important as us.”
‘A VERY LONG 24 HOURS’: Having missed parts of the last three seasons with injuries, Craig Williams (aka, “Sqwirl”) “had a lot of prayers all the way around for him” when the fifth-year junior running back suffered an injury in last Saturday’s scrimmage.
“There was an MRI that took 24 hours to get the reading of that. It was a very long 24 hours,” Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. “There was some confidence in that it wasn’t a tear or wasn’t anything bad. But then, with his history, he’s been kind of banging on the door.
“I think it was very difficult for him. And I think it was an opportunity for all of us to support and kind of throw ourselves in the space that he was. And I thought we were able to do that. So, it turned out good, and we’re excited to have him back.”
Aranda said Williams is expected to be back at the beginning of next week.
THE CREAM RISING: Over the last week, Aranda said he has seen some of his young receivers starting to emerge from the pack, singling out sophomores Hal Presley and Monaray Baldwin, redshirt freshman Javon Gipson and true freshman Armani Winfield.
“Javon Gipson is making a lot of plays,” Aranda said. “You look at his past semester, his spring semester was a record GPA for him. Just everything turned on that way. And it’s funny, when things kind of turn on in that phase of it, how it doesn’t take long to work its way to the field.”
Aranda said the receivers as a group have praised first-year receivers coach Dallas Baker.
“I meet with all the guys one-on-one, and all the receivers I meet with just rave on Dallas,” Aranda said. “And I can see Dallas’ impact on them. They know that they’re loved and people believe in them, and they’re playing like that. So, it’s exciting to see.”
BACK TO SCHOOL: After going through a Saturday morning scrimmage at McLane Stadium, the players will begin the fall semester of classes on Monday.
“This next week, we’ll be transitioning into school mode,” Aranda said. “I think all of our guys are probably tired of seeing my face, as much as they’ve seen it. And maybe some of the coaches’ faces, too. To get back into school mode and to be a college student again, I think they’re excited for that.”
Baylor’s annual “Meet the Bears” event is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, with student-athletes and coaches from most of the 19 intercollegiate sports signing autographs on the main concourse of McLane Stadium.
Single-game tickets for the 2022 season are now available to the public. In the first of six home games, Baylor will kick it off against the University of Albany at 6 p.m. Sept. 3 at McLane Stadium.
Baylor Bear Insider
Something of a jack-of-all-trades, Baylor sophomore Gavin Yates plays tight end, H-back and fullback on offense, fills in as needed on special teams and could probably step in at linebacker in the flip of a switch.
Ultimately, Yates said, “it’s kind of whatever (offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes) says.”
“I’m not the biggest tight end, I will say. I’m not the tallest,” said the 6-foot-3, 248-pound Yates, a tight end and defensive end at Frisco Memorial High School. “I don’t put my hand in the dirt a lot, so I’m off the ball and move in different directions and filling holes. I think it fits my game a lot more than per se Drake (Dabney), who’s on the ball.”
Yates said the commonality in his various positions is you “hit people really hard, run through their face and just narrow hands to get underneath their chest, pad level.”
While he was mainly used as a blocker last season, Yates scored on a two-yard touchdown run against Kansas and finished his true freshman season with four catches for 35 yards.
THREE GOALS: A preseason All-Big 12 pick who was named to the Mackey Award watch list, fifth-year senior Ben Sims is the most productive tight end in program history with 47 catches for 530 yards and nine touchdowns.
But even after posting career-best numbers last season with 31 receptions for 361 yards and six TDs, the 6-5, 258-pound Sims said he had “three main goals coming into fall camp – to be better on the front side of the wide zone, making the contested catches and being able to lean on other teammates.”
“Sometimes, I feel like I don’t push myself on my teammates, and I feel that leaning on them shows the team aspect,” Sims said. “I’ve learned vulnerability. Sometimes, being bottled up is easy to do. Letting yourself out there is kind of difficult. Being more open, communicating more with the entire offense, I feel like I’ve impacted others.”
During the fall camp, Sims said he has “been put in a lot of situations, not necessarily just running the routes I’ve been running in the past, but expanding my tool box, learning new routes and learning how to play through certain defenses. I think I’ve been getting better at that.”
IT HELPS TO KNOW: The tight ends have some built-in advantages in Grimes being the offensive coordinator and their position coach. Specifically, he’s going to use them.
With multiple-tight end sets, Sims and Dabney had a combined 21 starts last season. As a group, the tight ends hauled in 45 passes for 487 yards and nine touchdowns.
“I think it’s really no different,” said Dabney, a third-year junior who made eight starts last season, hauling in 10 passes for 91 yards and two TDs.
“If he was the wide receiver coach, he’s still going to use the tight ends the same way, because that’s just part of our offense. Yes, it gives us an advantage in the meeting room sometimes, because he explains kind of the whole concept behind the play. But, he treats every position group the same. They’re just as important as us.”
‘A VERY LONG 24 HOURS’: Having missed parts of the last three seasons with injuries, Craig Williams (aka, “Sqwirl”) “had a lot of prayers all the way around for him” when the fifth-year junior running back suffered an injury in last Saturday’s scrimmage.
“There was an MRI that took 24 hours to get the reading of that. It was a very long 24 hours,” Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. “There was some confidence in that it wasn’t a tear or wasn’t anything bad. But then, with his history, he’s been kind of banging on the door.
“I think it was very difficult for him. And I think it was an opportunity for all of us to support and kind of throw ourselves in the space that he was. And I thought we were able to do that. So, it turned out good, and we’re excited to have him back.”
Aranda said Williams is expected to be back at the beginning of next week.
THE CREAM RISING: Over the last week, Aranda said he has seen some of his young receivers starting to emerge from the pack, singling out sophomores Hal Presley and Monaray Baldwin, redshirt freshman Javon Gipson and true freshman Armani Winfield.
“Javon Gipson is making a lot of plays,” Aranda said. “You look at his past semester, his spring semester was a record GPA for him. Just everything turned on that way. And it’s funny, when things kind of turn on in that phase of it, how it doesn’t take long to work its way to the field.”
Aranda said the receivers as a group have praised first-year receivers coach Dallas Baker.
“I meet with all the guys one-on-one, and all the receivers I meet with just rave on Dallas,” Aranda said. “And I can see Dallas’ impact on them. They know that they’re loved and people believe in them, and they’re playing like that. So, it’s exciting to see.”
BACK TO SCHOOL: After going through a Saturday morning scrimmage at McLane Stadium, the players will begin the fall semester of classes on Monday.
“This next week, we’ll be transitioning into school mode,” Aranda said. “I think all of our guys are probably tired of seeing my face, as much as they’ve seen it. And maybe some of the coaches’ faces, too. To get back into school mode and to be a college student again, I think they’re excited for that.”
Baylor’s annual “Meet the Bears” event is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, with student-athletes and coaches from most of the 19 intercollegiate sports signing autographs on the main concourse of McLane Stadium.
Single-game tickets for the 2022 season are now available to the public. In the first of six home games, Baylor will kick it off against the University of Albany at 6 p.m. Sept. 3 at McLane Stadium.