TCU’s season is rolling, but the Horned Frogs still have some real sorting to do before Big 12 play arrives. Saturday night’s home opener against Grambling State, set for 7 p.m., should give Sonny Dykes and his staff a clean look at a few live competitions that have been simmering since camp.
If TCU takes care of business, the game could turn into a useful audit of the depth chart. And there are three spots worth watching closely.
At right tackle, the battle is still very much alive between Kilian Registe and Witten Van Hoy. Both sophomores are listed at 6-foot-6, and both bring plenty of upside to an offensive line that otherwise looks settled. Van Hoy got the first start against North Carolina, but the workload was close enough that neither player has separated himself.
The numbers from that opener back up how tight it is. According to HUDL IQ, Van Hoy posted a 6.7% pressure percentage, while Registe came in at 6.3%.
Van Hoy did allow havoc plays at a higher rate, 9.4% to Registe’s 5.6%. Both were steady enough in pass protection, though Registe held up better in one-on-one run situations.
Van Hoy, meanwhile, graded better against the pass rush in isolated matchups. TCU also found some of its chunk runs behind Van Hoy, though the second-half limitations in the passing game may have affected that picture.
The bottom line: both guys played well enough against North Carolina, and the staff still needs one of them to create real distance.
The free safety spot opened up in an unexpected way when Jacob Fields was dismissed from the team Aug. 15 after a locker room altercation. That left Jordan Lester, Devyn Hidrogo and Kaden McFadden to sort out the vacancy.
Lester, a senior, started against North Carolina and finished with four tackles. Hidrogo, a junior, had one tackle.
McFadden, also a junior, added four stops and forced a fumble.
Lester was on the field for 37 snaps, compared to 18 for Hidrogo and 13 for McFadden. He was targeted on 10% of Billy Edwards Jr.’s 28 passing attempts and gave up completions on 50% of those throws, with nine yards per completion.
Hidrogo didn’t allow a catch and looked better in coverage, though the sample is still small. McFadden is the intriguing piece here because he already backs up All-Big 12 safety Jamel Johnson at strong safety, and the staff could decide to move him around more to get him on the field.
“We’ve got four guys that we think can play,” head coach Sonny Dykes said. “They’re all a little different.
They bring something different to the table. You want to see Hidrogo make a move, and he has.
You want to see McFadden make a move, and he kind of has as well. Those two guys are pushing for playing time, and obviously Jamel’s been good.
It’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.”
Linebacker is the other spot in flux, and this one looks tied to getting the most out of Max Carroll. The senior moved outside, while Hudson Hooper is now listed as the starter in the middle against Grambling State.
Hooper, a former walk-on, played just one snap against North Carolina, yet he’s jumped into the lead spot on the depth chart. Michael Short, who started alongside Carroll in Week 0, is now listed behind him.
That move appears designed to put Carroll in a better position to impact the game. He led TCU with nine tackles, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries against North Carolina, and Dykes made it clear the staff sees him as a major piece.
“[Hooper] just has worked his way into a starting job,” Dykes said. “He’s consistent.
You know exactly what you’re going to get out of him down in and down out. I think it allows Max to play probably a position that’s a little more natural to him.
That allows him to be a little bit more on the edge.
“I like the linebacker group, Mike Short, Michael Teason, those guys are still going to get in the mix and play for us.”
Grambling State’s run-heavy offense should give TCU a useful test for Hooper, Short and Teason. The Horned Frogs believe Carroll can be elite. Now they’re trying to find the right piece next to him.
In Other News...
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TCUs 2027 class is still in its early stages, but the Horned Frogs already have a sizable group of high school commitments giving the fan base something to track well before those players ever arrive in Fort Worth. With 17 pledges already in place, the class has turned into a weekly scouting report for TCU followers, who can keep tabs on how each commit is developing and how their high school teams are faring this fall.
For a program always trying to stay ahead in recruiting, that kind of early momentum matters because it gives coaches a long runway to build relationships while fans get a preview of the talent pipeline. The appeal is obvious: these are all high school players, still years from college football, but their recent performances and upcoming games offer a glimpse of what TCU is betting on as it shapes its future roster. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Home Opener Carries Pressure Their Offense Still Has To Answer
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TCU Must Show It Fixed The Mistakes Dublin Exposed
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Grambling State should provide a different kind of test, but it still offers a useful measuring stick for the Horned Frogs. The questions are straightforward: can TCU play a cleaner game, finish drives better and show that the early-season mistakes were a one-week problem rather than a pattern the coaching staff still has to sort out. [Read more 🡒]