• The KillerFrogs

2019 Depth Chart

HFrog12

Full Member
I think being able to cover the slot with either Gaines or LVZ will help greatly. We will still be thin on the outside but some of our Safety depth should help.

Really hoping for a fully healthy Gaines this year. I think he is a transformational player that can help both our depth at LB and CB. You and Eight both mention Gaines being able to supplement some of the corner position with his speed. One thing I also notice is his knack for hitting and coming up quick. I think he will be utilized a lot like Sam Carter in the sense that he will act as another LB. This should help the load with Wallow and LVZ in the run game. The only difference is Gaines runs a lot better than Sam. Gaines had 3.5 tackles for loss in the Ohio St. game before he got injured. Can't wait for more of that!
 

TCUownstheBig12

Active Member
I view linebacker weight the same way as I do recruiting starsies...there's probably something to be said for them, but to guarantee a player is great/good/bad/awful simply on that metric, is flawed.
 

cheese83

Full Member
the frogs have signed a number of linebackers(5) linebackers in their last two classes.

problem has been gaps in recruiting in the 2016 and 2017 classes, an injury, and trying to get kids up to speed.

consider none of the linebackers from the 2015 class are still on the roster and that class is a good reference point of the issues the frogs have had last few years at linebacker.

alec dunham was a highly regarded olb recruit going into his junior year who tore up his knee and never was quite the same. he worked his butt off, contributed on special teams and near the end of his time in ft worth, but wasn't the player you would have projected had you seen him as a soph.
mike freeze - left the program
semaj thomas - moved to de and left the program
montrel wilson - injuries and left the program
arico evans - qb/safety at hillcrest converted to safety and then lb at tcu.

in the end arico evans was the best linebacker tcu got from the 2015 class. consider that for a moment.

2016 - signed juco aa tyree horton and have no real idea [ What the heck? ] happened other than he never played for tcu.

2017 - alex bush juco played on special teams
garrett wallow - started at safety, moved to linebacker, showed promise, got moved back to safety, and is now the frogs most experienced linebacker

2018 - ben wilson looks the part at 6'2" and 220 lbs, but he never got playing time until the end of the year and is now out until mid-year with a foot injury
jacoby simpson - is more of a conventional inside linebacker, the one concern has been the ability to cover space that is required in this defense.
demauryon holmes - late pick up who has great straight line speed, but haven't heard much about him

2019 wyatt harris - 6'3" 218, looks the part, got moved to de when they had injury issues in camp, got moved back to lb and supposedly had a great scrimmage.
dylan jordan - 6'3" 215
zach marcheselli - 6'2" 220
dee winters - 6'1" 195 started at safety and basically continued to grow into linebacker

when you have one upper classmen at a critical position it tends to be a problem they cant go back an redo the 2016 and 2017 recruiting classes

the only two linebackers they moved to defensive end from all these players were semaj thomas and wyatt and wyatt has been moved back to linebacker.

bigger questions are did they recruit the right prospects to do what gary wants from the linebacker position in the big 12 and can glasgow teach it and get them ready in a short period of time.

You can't count Wallow as a LB, he was recruited as a Safety. We are lucky he can play there. Ben Wilson looks promising, and yes I agree there were serious issues with the previous classes resulting in a lack of depth. Juwan Johnson was then brought in as a grad transfer but for some reason he didn't get too many reps until halfway through, then I thought he played well.

When we play OU their OL has been beating up on our LBs minus Summers. Ty was the closest thing to a traditionally sized LB we have had since Paul Dawson. I know he wants speed but you just can't keep putting in guys at 210 who are then expected to fill holes or take on blockers when teams run at us. That's just not realistic especially over a full season. Probably why Montrel was always hurt, he just doesn't have the size to take on an OL who is getting into the second level.

If anything I'd say our best years were when we had decent sized LBs, but for some reason we just haven't been able to replicate that the last few years. Maybe the real issues is high school kids don't want to play in a 4-2-5 if they're a LB? I don't get it but you'd think with our success we would have more depth and talent at LB.
 

cheese83

Full Member
I view linebacker weight the same way as I do recruiting starsies...there's probably something to be said for them, but to guarantee a player is great/good/bad/awful simply on that metric, is flawed.

I don't think anyone is saying that just b/c someone is smaller at LB doesn't mean they're going to be bad. But they will be at a disadvantage in certain situations. If weight didn't really matter for LBs then why aren't there a ton of 210 and 220 LBs running around on top tier college defenses and NFL defenses?
 

Eight

Member
I think being able to cover the slot with either Gaines or LVZ will help greatly. We will still be thin on the outside but some of our Safety depth should help.

don't dismiss the impact trevon moehrig has on the play of the secondary.

gary spoke very highly of his fall camp, trevon flashed great potential last year, and if has been some time frogs have had a safety with trevon's size and physical ability playing that position.
 

Eight

Member
You can't count Wallow as a LB, he was recruited as a Safety. We are lucky he can play there. Ben Wilson looks promising, and yes I agree there were serious issues with the previous classes resulting in a lack of depth. Juwan Johnson was then brought in as a grad transfer but for some reason he didn't get too many reps until halfway through, then I thought he played well.

When we play OU their OL has been beating up on our LBs minus Summers. Ty was the closest thing to a traditionally sized LB we have had since Paul Dawson. I know he wants speed but you just can't keep putting in guys at 210 who are then expected to fill holes or take on blockers when teams run at us. That's just not realistic especially over a full season. Probably why Montrel was always hurt, he just doesn't have the size to take on an OL who is getting into the second level.

If anything I'd say our best years were when we had decent sized LBs, but for some reason we just haven't been able to replicate that the last few years. Maybe the real issues is high school kids don't want to play in a 4-2-5 if they're a LB? I don't get it but you'd think with our success we would have more depth and talent at LB.

i can't disagree with you and this is an area i have wondered if gary really needs someone like bumpus around on the staff to provide his thoughts.

there is no doubt gary got obsessed with faster being better trying to stop the baylor offense under briles which resulted in tcu getting smaller in the defensive line than they were at times in the mwc.

frogs have swung back in the other direction and i think we are going to see good things in the defensive line.

linebacker is a weird one because things have been in flux since 2014. not completely sure why and i do think having a ga coach the position didn't help in recruiting as jason wasn't allowed off campus.

frogs have signed a group of kids who look athletic and have some size to grow a bit, key is going to be developing them and i hope glasgow is calling on everyone on that staff who knows about linebacker player (i.e. cross and d. patterson) to help work with these young guys.

i have this feeling purdue is going to go right after them which is where texas and others are going to attack.
 

Froggish

Active Member
i can't disagree with you and this is an area i have wondered if gary really needs someone like bumpus around on the staff to provide his thoughts.

there is no doubt gary got obsessed with faster being better trying to stop the baylor offense under briles which resulted in tcu getting smaller in the defensive line than they were at times in the mwc.

frogs have swung back in the other direction and i think we are going to see good things in the defensive line.

linebacker is a weird one because things have been in flux since 2014. not completely sure why and i do think having a ga coach the position didn't help in recruiting as jason wasn't allowed off campus.

frogs have signed a group of kids who look athletic and have some size to grow a bit, key is going to be developing them and i hope glasgow is calling on everyone on that staff who knows about linebacker player (i.e. cross and d. patterson) to help work with these young guys.

i have this feeling purdue is going to go right after them which is where texas and others are going to attack.

Jordan, Ben, and Wyatt all have nice frames and room to add weight...Instincts remain to be seen.

I'll add Howard and Summers are both listed at 6'-1" on their respected pro rosters. Howard is trying to stick at the NFL level at 219 and Ty at 241... All 3 of the guys above have the frames to play in 230-240 range
 

Frog-in-law1995

Active Member
Yeah that seems pretty tame. I can say that I’ve seen on Tech’s site, a lot thinking they’ll win. No trash talking or anything, they just are penciling TCU in as a win.

I bet if I went and looked, more than a couple guys on here penciled Tech in as a win last year.



Still think we kill them, though.
 

Billy Clyde

Active Member
Tough to find guys that can be 230-240 with sprinter speed. Not sure what he's weighing these days, but Barron Browning is listed as a starter now at OSU going into his 3rd year. How good would he look on our roster this year.
 

cheese83

Full Member
Tough to find guys that can be 230-240 with sprinter speed. Not sure what he's weighing these days, but Barron Browning is listed as a starter now at OSU going into his 3rd year. How good would he look on our roster this year.

Felt like we never really had a chance, says he is 6’3” 248.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
i have this feeling purdue is going to go right after them

I don't think Purdue is built that way. They aren't the normal plodding Big Ten team, they are spread all the way, and the weakest part of their team this year is supposedly the interior OL. And I don't think they have a real dangerous RB or a QB that runs well either.

Now UT, OU, and ISU....yep, they will probably try and run it down our throats if we are playing really small.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
Tough to find guys that can be 230-240 with sprinter speed. Not sure what he's weighing these days, but Barron Browning is listed as a starter now at OSU going into his 3rd year. How good would he look on our roster this year.

They don't have to have sprinter speed though. Paul Dawson and Marcus Mallett (not to mention Sam Carter) were slooooowww, but they were pretty damn effective.

I just think the obsession with speed can be counterproductive at times.
 

Froggish

Active Member
I don't think Purdue is built that way. They aren't the normal plodding Big Ten team, they are spread all the way, and the weakest part of their team this year is supposedly the interior OL. And I don't think they have a real dangerous RB or a QB that runs well either.

Now UT, OU, and ISU....yep, they will probably try and run it down our throats if we are playing really small.

I agree...Fully expect ISU in two TE sets pounding down hill at us.
 

Eight

Member
I don't think Purdue is built that way. They aren't the normal plodding Big Ten team, they are spread all the way, and the weakest part of their team this year is supposedly the interior OL. And I don't think they have a real dangerous RB or a QB that runs well either.

Now UT, OU, and ISU....yep, they will probably try and run it down our throats if we are playing really small.

more than one way to test those linebackers and i would love if purdue tried to pound the ball at them.

my concern is going play action and the linebackers having to first make that read and then pick up a crossing receiver or someone out of the back field on a wheel route i.e. ou or kansas in the second half last year
 

CountryFrog

Active Member
Yeah that’s pretty much what it was. Same type of deal. Just surprised me a bit how easily they seemed to pencil it in.
It's Tech. I'm sure more than half their fans thought they were better than TCU after we put 82 on them. We could be coming in with a 62 game winning streak against them and they'd be penciling in TCU as a win. There is no fanbase on earth made to feel more insecure by TCU's success than Tech fans.
 

Mean Purple

Active Member
I don't think Purdue is built that way. They aren't the normal plodding Big Ten team, they are spread all the way, and the weakest part of their team this year is supposedly the interior OL. And I don't think they have a real dangerous RB or a QB that runs well either.

Now UT, OU, and ISU....yep, they will probably try and run it down our throats if we are playing really small.
Purdue has Rondale Moore. Swiss Army Knife of a player. No way I am overlooking that speedster.
 

Mean Purple

Active Member
I don't think Purdue is built that way. They aren't the normal plodding Big Ten team, they are spread all the way, and the weakest part of their team this year is supposedly the interior OL. And I don't think they have a real dangerous RB or a QB that runs well either.

Now UT, OU, and ISU....yep, they will probably try and run it down our throats if we are playing really small.
https://www.hammerandrails.com/2019...ootball-yahoo-says-rondale-moore-is-overhyped

Agree with hammer and rails. Moore is not overhyped. Our guys will need to be zeroed in on tackling big time.
 

Froggish

Active Member
https://www.hammerandrails.com/2019...ootball-yahoo-says-rondale-moore-is-overhyped

Agree with hammer and rails. Moore is not overhyped. Our guys will need to be zeroed in on tackling big time.

I watched him play a few times and what impressed me the most was how complete he was as wr....No offense to Turp but Moore is a little bigger and runs much better routs. You can tell he’s a student of the position. He’s very much a combination of Reagor and Turp..
 
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