Sonny Dykes releases depth chart for Stanford game

we have a good idea of what the lineup's going to look like in week one we have depth chart so we'll see where the starters are and interestingly enough some incumbent players at least in the opening game of the season have beat out some high name transfers or some bigname transfers uh for the starting job and I'll tell you why I think that's good news for the program itself here in lockdown horn frog at your team every day you are locked on horn frogs your daily podcast on the TCU horn frogs part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day that's right your team every day subscribe to the YouTube channel you can also find us wherever you get your podcast for free and available wherever podcasts are found so subscribe in the old timey audio version if you want to do that as well on your favorite podcast platform I'm your host Stephen simock you can find me on Twitter simcock Steph we continue to get closer to game day we just a couple days away from TCU taking the field against Stanford on Friday night and we have a depth chart now we're going to hear from Sunny Dykes on Tuesday and hopefully have some updates on some guys who are missing from this depth chart who I presume are injured but we have an idea of who the starters are going to be uh come Friday night and the big news from an injury standpoint two guys who were left off this list who weren't listed at all on this chart Paul lawal who was projected to be a starter at defensive end for this team this upcoming season uh he's not there so not sure exactly what his injur is going to be like I said Sunny he'll speak to the media on Tuesday I'm sure he'll be ask about it it sounded like he was working on the exercise bike and trying to get himself right towards the end of fall camp but maybe he just couldn't get fully 100% healthy or to a place where they felt comfortable putting him out there and then Trent battle at running back which you know Trent's been kind of a change of pace guy someone they've used in the passing game occasionally through his career not a ton of production but I was excited about potentially him being someone who could give Cam cook and Tre Sanders a spell you got some young players at running back though that could benefit from this depending on how long Trey is uh absent by getting some carries themselves or getting some opportunities in the passing game as well so that'll be interesting to watch I will uh I'll be happy when we finally get to a place I think it's coming soon Texas Tech actually announced they're going to start doing injury reports every week college coaches because they can and because they have this luxury they treat injuries like FBI secrets so they don't want to get news out there and I get I mean you know these are still young men you got parents involved too like there's uh multiple tentacles to this but at the same time this has become such a big business and the gamesmanship aspect of it I just don't really feel like it's that helpful anymore everyone kind of knows everything these days so why not just come out and be forthright so I hope we get enough update from Sunny dyes on some sort of timetable for those two players but Paulo La being out for week one is a big deal I mean he was projected to be one of their top pass rushers so other guys are G have to step up but let's run down the depth chart and I'll point out some surprises because there were a few on here as well uh at quarterback no surprise there Josh Hoover's your starter Ken seals is the number two guy and then hos Haney behind them at number three at running back cam cook Trey Sanders Dominic Johnson which if you missed this he was a late transfer ad from Arkansas spent some time with Kendall BRS and Jimmy Smith new running backs coach for the frogs had a decent little career there dealt with some injuries did run for over 500 yards one season um was effective in the red zone and the worri is Trey Sanders has cut some weight so he's still got a good frame but he's not necessarily your prototypical big short yardage back so I think domc could slide into that role he's also someone that maybe they could use in some you know two running back sets if they wanted to and he showed some promise through the year so I think it was a good sort of lowrisk late addition to the roster and he'll be there in the mix as well and then the young freshman um Nate Palmer and Jeremy Payne listed behind those guys and it's an or so it looks like you know if there's some more carries to be had both those players could get some opportunities here here and there throughout the season at tight end Drake Dabney Chase Curtis DJ Rogers and Lafayette carway uh Chase Curtis had a really good offseason coming back from injury Drake Dabney the Baylor transfer excited to see what he can do this year I think that's going to be a good combo over the middle of the field replacing the production from Jared Wy from the past few seasons at one of the outside wide receiver spots Savon Williams and then JoJo Earl or Blake null listed there uh super excited about SA I talked about that in yesterday's episode I think he has a chance to have a huge year I saw stevenh Johnson wrote a really good story in the fort wor Star Telegram about Savon and his family and how he's just trying to really show out in his last presumably what's gon be his last season of college football uh huge opportunity for him to be kind of the go-to guy in this offense is Josh Hoover it felt like he really had a good chemistry and rhythm with Savon in the back half of the season last year JP Richardson at one of those slot spots um and then actually JP Richardson or Jack bash so Jack bash has had a good off season and he's the guy that they wanted to use a lot last year because of injuries they didn't get very involved you know I I think the problem for Jack is he's a tweener like he's not he's not necessarily fast enough to be your prototypical slot guy I think he's quite big enough to play the more traditional tight end role but I I feel like they're going to try to move him around the formation a little bit get him the ball in different spots and that JP Richardson has been your most consistent receiver or was your most consistent receiver last year so the fact that Jack bash is pushing him for that starting job I think shows the type of talent and ability he has and what the coaching staff thinks of him and who he is as a player uh behind those guys the two speedsters major everheart and Jordan Bailey who should also be involved in special teams this year at that other outside wide receiver spot here's your first real surprise even though I did predict this in my kind of depth chart projection late last week dalen Wright is the starter and then Eric mallister is behind him uh behind those guys you got brillan James and do as AMA um dalen Wright was really good when he was in the lineup last year and his whole career has kind of been characterized by availability if he's available he's been a really productive player had a huge game against Ohio State a few years ago for Minnesota you know had moments in Minnesota where he looked like the best player in the field I've told this story before but I reached out to Kane Rob who host lock on Golden Gophers when the news dropped that he was coming to TCU and Kane was like yeah I mean he's a dude that you just hear about all over uh the program because when he's ready to go and when he's fully healthy like he makes type of plays that guys just kind of salivate over because he's such a specimen but it's just about consistency and so part of me is skeptical that in year five of his college career career he's going to find that but I think it is they're going to rotate wide receivers a lot so it's not like eron CER is not going to play I still feel like Eric Mcall is gonna be a big part of the offense but the fact that D Wright was able to win that job I me good for him and I think it does show that the coaching staff believes in his ability and just in that physical nature that he brings to the table and hopefully someone that can help stretch the field this year because that was sorely missing from last year's offense um okay let's get to the starting offensive line bless Harris at left tackle Ben Taylor Whitfield behind him at left guard Colton Deary or Remington Strickland I think it's gonna be Colton Deary but Remington did get a lot of reps in the spring and the summer uh James brocker at Center or Colton de I feel like it'll be James brocker uh Carson Bruno at that Right Guard spot and then Mike Nichols at right tackle so I think your five guys to start the season are going to be blessed Harris Colton Deary James brocker Meer Carson Bruno Mike Nichols I think in the Big 12 that's a starting unit that can work the issue with the o line is going to be when you get past those guys there's not a ton of depth there so you can't really afford injuries and it's one of the most physical positions on the field so you're most likely going to have at least some bumps and bruises and possibly some injuries they're going to keep guys from missing some time here and there um so I think that's really kind of the maker break for how this offense functions but as far as surprises Go I mean I think dalan wght is really the big one um everybody else kind of pretty much went chalk based on kind of what we had heard through the off season and so that's your offense for Friday night against Stanford flipping over to the defensive side uh I mentioned paulw was not on this list um at one of those Edge spots Nana aosa Mina he'll be starting um in front of or in place of Paul while he's out Travis Jackson The Freshman um in the two deep so I mean that's encouraging that he's there but also kind of speaks to the lack of depth at that spot um at tackle Caleb Fox followed by Zach Chapman and then at nose guard tman Mitchell and behind him Marcus steel the young player that there super excited about um at that stud linebacker position new spot on this defense Cooper McDonald or Devon deal I think those guys are gonna be interchangeable but they were really complimentary about Cooper McDonald from San Diego State how he came in really studied the offense understood what he was supposed to do um and just had a a really good presence about him from the moment that he stepped on campus so he's earned that spot Devon deal also going to be someone who they um rotate in and out as a pass rusher and in those nickel and dime packages there were times according to Jamie plunket from horn frog Blitz that both those guys were on the field simultaneously so um you'll see some different formations and some different looks as they rotate those players around at linebacker this is another surprise at middle linebacker Johnny Hodes is a starter and then Kay barmor is uh in the two deep there behind Johnny Johnny had a rough year last year now I think some of that was just the scheme and putting him in bad situations but I really thought Caleb alarms or Cal transfer was going to be the you know lock it in starter but credit to Johnny I mean he he won the job at least to start the season we'll see what happens as the games get going but uh quite a quite a win by him to get that done at that other linebacker spot Nam oor followed by Max Caroll and then Shad Banks is on the third team as of now um safety spot Abe Kamar Jamal Johnson and Bud Clark and you know I I said this in my depth chart projection I thought Jamal Johnson could beat cam Smith and he did talented player true sophomore getting in there getting a chance to make plays that safety group looks really promising I'm excited to see what they can do from a you know standpoint of creating turnovers and um just creating havoc in the back end of that defense and then at your corner spot to Travis Bron and lamarian James followed by Javon mcgyver and chanon Canada again Avery Helm and uh Vernon Glover both out indefinitely with injuries doesn't sound like either of those guys will be super active if at all this season um on special teams your play kickers Kyle liberman The Freshman from South Lake Carol so that's good he's got a wrong leg I think you know he's he's at a place where he can add to the ceiling of this team just by giving them more points and putting less pressure on the offense to move the ball even though you know you want to score touchdowns that's that's the that's the key here if you're gonna win a lot of games you got to find a way to convert in the red zone and convert in plus territory when you get there at kick return and punt return at punt return JP Richardson who did you know that for the majority of last year and then Jack bash also listed as a punt returner which is interesting kick return major everheart and Jordan Bailey the speedsters and I hope they get some opportunities but I'll be honest with you at this point in football the smartest thing on the kickoff return might just be to fair catch it so hopefully they break one but yeah it's getting tougher and tougher to really make an impact at that position with all the rule changes so that's your depth chart that's what your uh starters are going to look like when they take the field against Stanford this upcoming weekend we come back I want to talk about some uh some news from the athletic they did their yearly ranking of college football coaches what tier does Sunny Dykes fall into and I'll tell you why I think this is a huge year for his reputation and the narrative moving forward that's unlocked on horn frogs at your team every day you know when I was in college when I was at TCU I used to think I was a night owl like if people ask me are you a morning person are you someone that gets more done in the evenings I would say oh yeah I was I was someone would like to stay up that was when I could be super productive but I've gotten older and now that I have four children I've realized that I just had no responsibilities earlier in my life and that was really that was really what was going on it wasn't so much that I was more productive at night it was just I was less tired because I didn't have a lot happening outside of school but nowadays I'm like man how am I gonna stay up for this 9:30 kickoff against Stanford on Friday night and I'll tell you one of our great sponsors I'm going to try 5our energy if you need to stay up late watching the sports 5our Energy Shot will give you the energy to stay alert to watch all your favorite games zero sugar a convenient portable size it's the perfect pickme up for getting stuff done Five Hour Energy has a lot of different flavors watermelon tropical burst grape Berry and more try them all um you can build your own 12pack or 24 pack you choose the flavors and it's delivered right to your door you know that you can find it in the convenience store but now you can order it online too and personalize those flavors do that today 5H Hour Energy proud sponsor of the lockdown Network a lot of different websites do this in the off season but the athletic Bruce Feldman and Chris Vini who are writers there they've started this yearly tradition of they rank all the coaches in FBS football and they separate them into tier so there's eight different tiers that all these coaches fall into and I was curious where Sunny Dykes would be because he's coming off such a um up and down two-year stretch he ended up in tier three here are the coaches that are with him in tier three Jeff Bram at Louisville m brown at North Carolina Troy Calhoun at Air Force Matt Campbell at Iowa State Jeremy Chadwell who is at Liberty Dave Clawson at Wake Forest Mario crisal at Miami Eli dertz at Missouri Kirk ference at Iowa sunny at CCU PJ Fleck at Minnesota James Franklin at Penn State Hugh FES at Auburn Willie Fritz at Houston Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State Josh hyp at Tennessee Lane kein at Old Miss Chris kimman at Kansas State Dan laning at Oregon Gus maon at UCF Rich Rodriguez at Jacksonville State Bronco menal at New Mexico Steve sarkeesian at Texas Jonathan Jonathan Smith excuse me at Michigan State and Mark stops at Kentucky so this is a good list I mean these are guys that have done it at a high level m brown is a former National Champion it was at Texas many years ago but still he has that under his belt and Mack and sunny are really the only guys that have won at that level in this tier now the other coaches have been incredibly consistent and what I mean at this level is sunny won a playoff game and Mack won a national title and so that's kind of the separator um tier two the level above where Sunny's ranked right now is Ryan Day kayn dbor Luke fickle Brian Kelly Lance lipold Mike norell Lincoln Riley and Kyle Whittingham so that's a good list of coaches and two big 12 coaches there in Lance lipold and Kyle woodingham so it's hard for me to argue I spent a lot of time a couple off seasons ago really defending Sunny Dykes because I felt like he wasn't getting enough credit I do feel like this is a huge year for him though because you could make the argument and I don't fall into this camp necessarily completely I'm somewhere in the middle I think there's some things that Sunny does really well I feel like there's obviously areas where he can grow one thing that really surprised me in year one because I didn't associate these attributes with him as a coach before he took over but that team that you know won a playoff game they had incredible mental toughness they were physically tough as well good attention to detail leadership all the kind of intangible things and that just did a complete 180 last season and honestly I feel like last season even though I think Sunny's a good coach was closer to the type of identity that his teams have had throughout his career which is you know SMU they were good but they would sort of falter down the stretch they weren't always known for being physical same type of thing in Louisiana Tech the Cal Senor wasn't good I wouldn't say it was completely disaster but it wasn't good and eventually he decided to leave slash they ask him they didn't you know uh put their arms over the door to try to keep him in California when he was ready to go but I feel like this is a big season because I believe just listening to this fan base and knowing how uh a lot of our listeners and viewers think the narrative around Sunny kind of falls into into two camps it's hey this guy's a good coach he knows how to win he's a great CEO he understands how to put coaches and players in positions where they can succeed and he just kind of he kind of tries to just let them do their thing and stay out of the way and that's his biggest strength I think there's also a camp that's like he took over a a roster that was very senior heavy that had a lot of talent left over from the Gary Patterson era and that was desperate for new voice because even though Gary was an outstanding coach I mean anyone with a brain could tell that things had gotten stale and for whatever reason they weren't responding to his messaging and then Sunny came in and he's a very different personality and a lot more laid-back and and kind of allows players to do their things and I think that resonated with that team and that team could enjoy that freedom and thrive in it because they were disciplined and they held themselves accountable last year's group didn't do that as well and so this is going to be a huge year to sort of see okay at the power five level what kind of coach is Sunny Dykes and what does he want the identity of his teams to be moving forward when we come back we'll get into uh some audience reaction and wrap things up it's lock down horn frogs your team every day you ever get to a restaurant you're meeting a friend there and you're the first one there and maybe you're earlier you get that text it's like hey I'm about 10 minutes out 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out um avo's defensive team this year one thing about Coach P's defensive units they didn't take any prisoners it wasn't unusual see quarterbacks knocked out of the game two or three times a year on clean hits so I'm hoping to see a return that style Go Frogs yeah they got to get more physical it's I mean it's tackle football you gotta get guys to the ground um and they were bad at that last year like just fundamental things along with I think the scheme being an issue and and some other things on defense the main factor that kept coming up was they just weren't playing good fundamental football and they have to get back to that this upcoming season David May with several takes he said wide receiver talent's gonna have to do something um you know this upcoming year to really take the team the next level defense took the air out of the offense last year when a third down stop was needed it did not happen he thinks punt return settled in when this switch JP Richardson was made um loved how sunny told Josh to pick his spots as a gunslinger spread the ball to Dabney bash and Curtis to pick up the reduction lost and Wy yeah they are losing I mean I I think Jared Wy is going to be a big loss um now as you said they got a couple different guys that they can get the ball to to try to replace his production but he was a really good option for them last season over the middle of the field I'm excited about this wide receiver group you know o line wise they have to come together quickly and it's going to be a challenge but I do think there's more Talent this year across the board um and that should be helpful for the o line and Josh is you know Josh Hoover has to find a way to not turn the ball over uh protecting the football is going to be a huge key for this offense this year so a lot of questions that we're going to see answered though over the next couple days when they take the field against Stanford we'll be back again tomorrow it's lockdown horn frogs your team every day