Smith stands tall

Grandview (Texas) 2016 Rivals250 quarterback Zach Smith stands tall in a crowd at 6-foot-4, and stands out on the football field.

The quarterback received his Baylor offer in June, and it did not take him long to make his decision.

"It was great," Smith said. "It was exciting. It's awesome. They were my No. 1 coming into it and it's just great."

He had an idea the Bears might offer when they did, and he was ready to commit when he received the call.

Smith has shown bright on the field, but some of his best qualities often go unnoticed.

"He's the kind of kid who makes it easy to coach," Grandview coach Casey Walraven said. "It's not a hard job. He's got size, he's got intelligence, and he has the work ethic to continually want to get better. And he makes everyone around him better. He has a lot of guys this year that he's having to help progress through a lot of experience and learning and it's amazing what he's able to do with his arm and his intelligence to get them in great positions to make plays. It's the little things people don't see that's he's controlling the offense with, and all the weight that's on his shoulders and the decision making that he's really, really good at."

Thursday night in Venus, Texas, the Grandview Zebras played their second and final scrimmage, and coach Walraven can already see the improvements made by his quarterback.

"Just the overall experience and leadership of taking over and saying alright get on my back and lets go," Walraven said. "Other than just the obvious physical growth - he's put on 20 pounds - now all of the sudden the 15-yard comebacks on the sidelines where he was kind of having to put a little bit into it are just with ease. It just flies out of his hands. I've watched him throw post routes where he just barely even flicked his wrist and it's 40 yards down the field and he's had to control it to make sure we get the completion. So it's been physical growth, and it's been mental growth. It's just been the leadership role and carrying the team."

Smith has also spent a lot of time working on his release and his footwork, and with the season now here he is ready to see the offseason work turn into production.

"I've just been putting in a lot of work. The whole team has," Smith said. "We've really come a long way since the offseason and we're just going to work and do our best to get ready for the season. Our next game is Canada which is pretty exciting and we're working and doing our best to get there."

As a sophomore, Smith completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,700 yards and 31 touchdowns. He is currently ranked No. 221 in the 2016 Rivals250, No. 10 among the nation's 2016 pro-style quarterback, and No. 28 in the Rivals.com Texas Initial Top 75.

Smith joins Tren'Davian Dickson, Patrick Hudson, Kameron Martin, and Keshawn Somerville in Baylor's 2016 recruiting class.