Bears wrap up Spring camp with “First Look”

SPRINGFIELD–Casey Woods has his first Spring camp, as a first-year head coach, under his belt with the conclusion of Missouri State’s final Spring practice, on Saturday.

Rather than hold a traditional “Spring game” for the last day of the period, Woods opted to hold a “First Look” in front of fans and media, at Plaster Stadium, so both audiences could see how the players go through position battles, exercises, and potentially, who stood out as a possible starter in the fall.

Out of all the position groups, there’s no doubt the quarterback room has the most buzz, and biggest question mark, around it.

With the departure of Jacob Clark, who could hear his name called during the NFL Draft, next week, that leaves Grand Canyon-sized shoes to fill for the Bears next signal caller. There’s six different players who could earn that role, but, realistically, it’s a two-horse race.

The starting quarterback job is between Duke transfer, Henry Belin IV, and UTEP transfer, Skyler Locklear. While Belin IV is the more prototypical prospect — 6’3, 225 lbs — he doesn’t have as much playing time as Locklear. Belin started just two games for the Blue Devils in 13 appearances, over three seasons. His stat line shows 540 passing yards and 5 touchdowns, along with 92 rushing yards and 1 td.

As for Locklear, he started 16 of the 19 games he appeared in for the Miners over the last two seasons, and recorded 3,000 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. However, he is vastly undersized compared to Belin IV. Locklear is listed at 5’11, 195 lbs.

I asked Coach Woods which of the two he thought would be his starter come the fall, but he did not commit to one. He was only complimentary of the two for their competitive spirit, but did acknowledge he will have to make a decision, eventually.

“I’ve been pleased with both Henry and Skyler, said Coach Woods. “You can tell they’ve both been at places where they’ve won, you can tell they’ve both been at places where they’ve played, but you can’t have two quarterbacks, obviously. But as we get to that point, obviously, you can’t replace Jacob, but we got guys we feel we can go win with.”