Jaden Craig has heard the Harvard jokes, even if he hasn’t heard the setup that usually comes before them.
“How do you know if a person graduated from Harvard?
“I actually haven’t heard this one,” he said. “What is it?”
They tell you.
That’s the kind of profile Craig brings to TCU: a Harvard quarterback with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, a 2022 summer internship in financial services in New York City, and now a chance to answer a much bigger question than any punchline. Can he run a Power-Four offense against Power-Four defenses?
That question is about to be put on the field in a hurry. Craig is set to start for TCU at 11 a.m. on Aug. 29 in Dublin, Ireland, when the Horned Frogs open against Jordon Hudson’s North Carolina Tar Heels. The way he handles that stage will shape a season that already feels tied to his right arm.
Craig understands the skepticism. He said feedback from NFL people centered on the quality of the opposition he faced.
“I don’t know about (hearing that) face-to-face, but talking to my agent and hearing NFL feedback, the strength of opponent was big; it wasn’t very favorable,” Craig told the Star-Telegram in a recent interview. “That’s what I gathered. People saw talent, but it’s hard to compare how that stacks up to a Power-Four defense.
“The Ivy League does not get a ton of respect, and it’s one of those things that I hope to prove this year that there are good players in the Ivy.”
TCU has seen this movie before, at least in broad strokes. Back in 2018, the program had to replace Kenny Hill, who had just led the Frogs to an 11-3 season, a Big 12 title game appearance, a win over Stanford in the Alamo Bowl and a No. 9 finish in the final AP Top 25. The quarterback room also included Mike Collins, who transferred in after one season at Penn and had mostly been a backup there.
Collins eventually won the job in the seventh game of the season, then lost at Kansas by one point, started three more games and later suffered a season-ending injury in a win at Baylor. He had the size, but not the game, to be a real Big 12 quarterback. After serving as a backup in 2019, he transferred to Rice and finished his career there in 2020 with honorable mention All-Conference USA honors.
That stretch helped define a period when quarterback play at TCU was “an issue” until Max Duggan emerged from the bench in the first week of 2022.
Craig arrives with the same kind of pressure, only now the program is again replacing a senior quarterback. Josh Hoover transferred to Indiana, and TCU’s last win last season was also in the Alamo Bowl.
He has already stepped into the visibility that comes with the job. Outside the movie theater at the nearby Clearfork development, there is a standup banner of Craig in his TCU jersey holding an “EECU Debit Mastercard.”
Craig isn’t shy about wanting the financial upside that comes with college football now. He knows he can make decent money here, and he wants more than that. Harvard alumni are known for making money; Craig wants to do it playing pro football, even if that’s a road very few Harvard players have taken.
According to Pro Football Reference, Harvard has had 41 players reach the NFL, with 21 drafted and 18 lasting at least four years. Ryan Fitzpatrick remains the lone Harvard quarterback to play in the league, where he spent 17 seasons and earned more than $80 million. Other Harvard names in the NFL include former Vikings center Matt Birk, Bengals punter/receiver Pat McInally and current Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Craig knows the label that follows him.
“I would say definitely. I felt it towards the end of my senior year at Harvard, and when I was in the decision process to transfer,” he said.
“It’s one of those things you can’t avoid, but I would not change anything about my past 3 and 1/2 years there. I had a great experience there.”
He doesn’t view himself as a novelty act. But he is the bet TCU is making, and a big one. If a Harvard quarterback can win big in the Big 12, Craig is the one who has to prove it.
In Other News...
Sonny Dykes Hinted Where TCU Camp Battles Stand Right Now
A closed scrimmage has a way of sharpening the picture in fall camp, and Sonny Dykes offered a few useful clues afterward about where TCU stands as the Horned Frogs keep sorting out roles and building toward the opener. The head coach touched on the depth chart, the progress the team has made in camp and the way several players have taken steps forward, with the rushing attack drawing particular mention as an area that has looked better.
Dykes also pointed to the development of players such as Jaden Craig and Michael Short, a sign that the competition is not only about settling starters but also about finding dependable pieces for the long haul. For TCU, the bigger challenge now is carrying that improvement into the season and sustaining it once the focus shifts from camp battles to weekly preparation for upcoming opponents. [Read more 🡒]
Sonny Dykes Has TCU Fans Dreaming Bigger Than Usual This Season
Fall camp has a way of feeding optimism, and this TCU preseason has given Horned Frogs fans plenty to chew on. Under Sonny Dykes, the conversation has moved beyond simple improvement and into the kind of wishcasting that usually comes with a team that thinks it has enough talent to make real noise, with fans and observers eyeing possible 1,000-yard seasons on both sides of the ball and a defense that could be more disruptive than it has been in recent memory.
The intrigue is not just about individual production, either. There is a growing sense around the program that the schedule could open the door to a fast start before the grind of conference play puts the season under a harsher spotlight, and that is why the buzz around the secondary matters so much. If the transfers in the back end settle in quickly, TCU may have the sort of top-end playmakers that can turn preseason hope into something far more believable once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]