How will Sonny Dykes shuffle around the O-line after the Cade Bennett injury?

did TCU fully do their due diligence with some of the transfer players they're bringing in I'll talk about that more next turn locktown horn frogs your team every day you are locked on horn frogs your daily podcast on the TCU Horned Frogs part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day lockdown horn frogs your team every day thanks for making the show your first listen subscribe to the YouTube Channel also on your favorite podcast platform we're free and available wherever it is you get your podcast one of our great listeners YouTube viewers made a good point yesterday and I wanted to talk about how this is a big year for TCU in the transfer portal in 2022 they did pretty much everything right from a coaching perspective one of the things that really stood out was by and large they hit on just about every one of their transfers now last season was a different story this year I think they've been a little more selective and we've just discussed it seems like there's been a shift in strategy as far as prioritizing getting guys who have had experience in college football even if it's in the group of five level whatever the case is dudes that have played a lot of snaps and haven't necessarily dealt with either kind of being buried in the depth chart or dealing with a lot of injuries over the course of their career and Vince Brer who frequently comments on the show and love Vince love hearing his input he's not the biggest fan of Sunny dyes right now which is fine I'm always open to everybody's opinions he said about Cade Bennett if you miss this news Cade Bennett who came in from San Diego State over the summer was projected to be one of the starters on the offensive line at one of those guard spots had been an all Mountain West reformer over the past two years was hopeful that he could kind of help solidify that interior offensive line along with James brocker Meer and Colton Darian those three guys would be a good unit together alongside bless Harris and potentially Mike Nichols at the respective tackle positions well Kade Bennett announced yesterday Sunny Dykes said this at his press conference and then Kade Bennett took to social media to say that he was gonna miss the entire season because he had to have back surgery and that stinks and listen I mean like there's nobody to blame for injuries I hate it for Kade I know that he wants to play the only silver lining in it really is he has more eligibility left so he can come back next year if both sides feel like that's something they want to do and also I mean at least you know this early in the game so you can start putting in contingency plans and it sounds like right now what they're trying to do is just find the best Five Guys on the field so James brocker and Colton Deary are competing at the center position right now and whoever loses that battle most likely be at that guard spot that we thought Kade Bennett would occupy throughout the rest of the season but Vince mentioned I'm just not convinced about Sunny did they not do a medical physical they had to know he had a back problem to me it sounds like Sunny is always hoping for the best you know it's a great question and I I tried to do some research today I didn't get a clear answer as college football is becoming more and more like the NFL one thing that we're seeing in this in this transition as the game is changing a lot is there are just certain things that the NFL has in place because they've been doing this forever that college football doesn't currently have at their disposal one of those things is now we see this more with trades than with free agency free agent signings but it happens with free agent signings too like there's a physical process that you have to undergo the team wants to make sure before they make an investment like hey is this all good and I'm not blaming Kade Bennett for what happened he was not on campus during the Spring he had to finish up some stuff at San Diego State before he could transfer over and make this move he was trying to stay in shape I don't know if this was a lingering problem that came you know around and sort of re it rear its head like as fall Camp was starting or if this was something that just happened in the course of the summer but I do Wonder now that teams are making nil commitments to players how much more background information is going to be needed in the future when you're trying to decide okay are we going to invest in this player moving forward and I think this is a a really critical year for TCU when it comes to evaluating players in the transfer portal because last season they didn't hit on some key guys and it really cost them through the course of the year and it feels like at least from a starting perspective like the guys that are going to be on the field to start the season they have a way around this I think this where this really hurts you as your depth it's kind of the same situation with Corner which we'll get into segment two with Avery Helm and Veron Glover potentially being out we don't know how long yet but it doesn't sound good when you talk about non-con knee injuries and sun says that's what both guys were were suffering from and that they'd know more in the next couple of days but you you have some players that could possibly step up and be starters you felt really good about that corner room though and and your ability to rotate and now that de is a lot thinner on the offensive line especially the interior offensive line your to deep isn't as strong as you expected it to be going into the season but I wanted to point this out quickly because in 2022 they really had an incredible run Josh Newton transfer in um for from Louisiana Monroe great player Ezra doson at okay that was kind of a Miss he ended up leaving after this past season Caleb fox has been a big time contributor and a starter for the frogs um or a guy that's played a lot of snaps for TCU for the last two years ammani Bailey great season last year ton Mitchell has been a contributor for this team Robbie Rochester uh is still on the roster is part of your line rotation maybe this is the year where we see more from him but I mean he's he's a name that is is still there and still trying to work his way at the depth chart Cory Ren has moved on to another school so you know you missed there Johnny Hodges still on campus was a big part of that team and their great run in 22 also played a lot last year I think he struggled last season with some of the things they were asking him to do but I feel like there's a role for him in this new Andy aalos defense lual lak from Yukon the defensive lineman uh good player for them I mean he was part of that defensive line rotation 2022 moved on Mark Perry multi-year starter Jared Wy multi-year starter goes onto the NFL Alan Ali really good player ends up moving on the NFL ish berdine dealt with injuries never really saw the field Terrence Cooks to this point hasn't seen the field but of your 14 guys I would say there's four players there that didn't end up really being solid contributors for you but the other 10 were not only dudes that were just on the roster but I mean guys that were starting that played really huge roles for you um in both 2022 and 2023 in some cases so that was just a great transfer class last year to go Brown I mean he played wasn't a huge Factor uh Colton Deary still on the roster has a chance to make more waves this year was a starter for them chance Nolan washed out before the season even started dalen Wright dealt with injuries last year Jaylen Robinson was productive at times but inconsistent also due to the fact that he was dealing with injuries through a lot of the Season Rick De Bru I mean he was a contributor at times but not really what they thought he could as an edge rusher Willis Patrick was a starter all year long JP Richardson um was your best wide receiver last year so that was a big time hit Trey Sanders still on the roster uh a change of pace back I think there's a role for him moving forward Tommy brocker unfortunately had to medically retire from football now the good thing about some of these guys from 2023 and Avery Helm is a legit starter and a solid contributor that was a great take by TCU um a couple other players Jojo and Jack bash didn't give you what you expected last season but the good news is they still have eligibility and so they can turn things around and and have a big contribution this year I think Jack B is gonna be a huge part of this offense this season um you know I talked about moving Savon Williams around some this year and in different formations putting him in the back field at times getting him involved like in the Jet Sweep game just trying to get the ball in his hand hands and allowing him to make things happen after the catch or giving him opportunities in the Run game to do some things for them and I feel like they're also gonna it'll be in a different way but they're going to move Jack bash around in this offense and try to find ways to get him the football and he's he can be like a a hybrid inside receiver tight end HB type player for you that could be really beneficial for this football team um you know JoJo Earl is moving to that outside wide receiv spot which I was a little surprised by that based on his his size but he's got explosiveness and hopefully this is the year that he puts it together but this upcoming season for TCU football in the transfer portal is um it's a big deal they took on 24 transfers this cycle like that's a lot of players that you're counting on and I mean the majority of them like there's a few guys that I would say project or projects and I don't say that in the negative sense I just say like players that they're looking at you know maybe could be depth for now but could be big time players in the future brillan James comes to mind as he comes over from no true name as a as a true freshman but by and large like it's a lot of experienced players who you want on the field um now one news nugget that came down yesterday Jeremy Clark from 247 Sports had this uh TCU did get one of their running backs that they recruited in the portal on campus Dominic Johnson from Arkansas and the story on him is that you know he he's dealt with injuries but has been productive at times I do wonder where he fits in this offense because I mean I think there was a reason to to bring him on board he could potentially be another short yardage back he's got great size um and he was effective in the red zone at Arkansas he six1 250 pounds but if they go into some heavier sets because last year you know we discussed the issues that they had uh in the goal on the goal line in short yard situations do you add another blocker to the point to to the formation by having uh Johnson in there as a fullback right and so Trey Sanders could still be your kind of short yardage back you could give Dominic some chances as well but then you also have that flexibility to put him at fullback put him at HB back have him as an extra blocker or if if you want to do a quick hitter with him in the Run game you can hand the ball off to him and let him get yardage as well so I think there's some cool possibilities there but um you know we we praise this evaluation staff really well after the the 2022 class because of what they did in the portal last season was a little different but there's still time for some of those guys in 2023 that were part of that 2 through transfer class to make an impact and I think this will be a big year in kind of seeing okay where where are they at because they they went after a lot of guys who have had experience in the past and are going to give them opportunities um to try to make things happen this upcoming season when we come back some injuries in that corner room we'll talk about where they're at where they could go next lock down horn frogs your team every day if you need tickets to 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Changing landscape of College athletics including conference reignment the transfer portal nil college football expanded playoffs and more locked on college football is available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day so sorry to stay on the injury front but I mean that's kind of the newsy thing happening right now in with fall camp and in Fall practice for TCU so yesterday we found out that Avery Helm and Vernon Glover were are expected to miss some time with injuries Vernon's a young guy that they really like and I think he was gonna be a big part of what they did this year Abraham is your number one corner going into the season so yesterday I was sort of like all right you know this is bad news but they have the depth to make this work I'll tell you the more I've thought about this and The more I've evaluated it um I don't I don't love it I'm I'm concerned about who's gonna step up and be the guys moving forward for this defense now one thing that has been told to us through practices and coaches having some availability Malcolm Kelly pointed out the wide receivers coach in a recent media conference he said the biggest thing he's noticed from this new defense is that they're asking these Corners to play a lot more press man coverage to be physical to be on an island and there's some advantages that can come with that I if you can hold your own in those situations then it leads to Bringing more pressure uh having more guys available to make plays pressure the quarterback you can do some some things to disguise you know Blitz packages all that's good it also means you got to have guys that can cover because you're putting a lot of pressure on your Corners to be physical at the point of attack not allow free releases not allow guys to get where they want to go and then also you know break up passes discourage big plays all those things so I was excited to see Avery Helm in that environment because that's similar to what he did in the SEC at Florida and Veron GL is another guy I wanted to see just him get challenged in that way well with those guys out what are we looking at now I mean from a from a starting perspective if you play Stanford tomorrow I think the the guys would be J Travis Bron from uh Utah who's played a lot of snaps and has a ton of experience and then lamari and James from Old Dominion who's been an exciting player through spring practice and fall camp but I don't think anybody really thought okay this is like we we need this guy and want this guy to be our number two Corner going into the season beyond that you know the names to know Channing Canada Joo transfer has been here for a few years now Javon MC Iver the transfer from Austin P um and then dandre McGee is a is a true freshman Julian Knox is a true freshman I mean I know those guys are getting reps I don't really think they're necessarily be ready to play right away one name I will point out that could be intriguing uh Austin Jordan a defensive back from Texas and he played his high school ball at Denton Ryan was highly recruited he got some opportunities to Texas and has made some plays through his career but he um He's listed as a DB on the roster he played safety at Texas and I think he has the athleticism and the ability to play corner I feel like in their mind they wanted him to be a safety or that was more their vision for what he could be but now I just I wonder if they say okay do we need to rearrange this give them some opportunities at that corner spot because we need more depth there the killer here is um you know I don't know how much they were going to rotate these guys anyway I Know Carl buckles uh likes to give these guys a lot of opportunities in practice I think once the season starts you're going to be pretty set at your corner positions but if you're GNA run a lot of different packages then you need multiple corners on the field and so the depth is taking a big hit here and that's the that's the thing that's I think we're GNA see how they handle it I just I was I was excited about you know the starters that they had and then the players they could rotate in and out and now you're asking Travis Bron to potentially step up and be your number one corner um either lamary and James or Channing can be on the other side and there's be a lot of pressure on those guys um to hold their own and make plays and do the right things at that spot so it'll be tough but that's the charge now for Andy aalos and this defense is figuring out guys that that you can trust to play aggressively in the secondary because you you want to create more turnovers you want to create more Splash plays and it's hard to do that if you're just sitting back on your heels and sort of letting the offense constantly dictate the action like they did last year so you need you need guys that can play at a high level if this defense is gonna Thrive so I'm just I'm concerned about um the depth of that position but there's not a lot you can do other than hope these guys can get healthy eventually and that it'll all sort of work its way out once the season starts when we come back I'll get some of your reaction to yesterday's show it's lockdown horn frogs your team every day so we talked about these injuries we talked about um GP leaving Baylor could he ever possibly get back to TCU Vince prior in addition to what he said about the transfer portal in Sunny says Gary has lost the privilege to return to TCU at least to him um yeah I don't have a lot of inside information there I mean I know he's he's kind of been around not really the program per se he's still around TCU a lot still got good relationships there um I think that relationship with the administration excuse me is still sort of Frosty but eventually I think he just eventually he'll he'll be more welcome and it would be a tall task for sunny dyes to bring him on in any sort of Staff capacity because I know that puts a lot of pressure on him because Gary's such a legend but man it just feels like I think he would jump at the opportunity and he just sounded to me in that interview of Matt Mosley like a guy that was confused and was kind of searching for okay what do I do next like this is this is what I've done for a long time I've been to a couple different places and he was he was at Texas for a year like it worked out Steve zarian offered to have him back he just decided he wanted to move on um and kind of the same thing at Baylor I mean he was there like all the reports are that him and Dave Randa got along fine it just he felt like you know what it's probably best if I move on and he kept bringing up the idea of of not being a distraction uh Richard Barry says he hates to see the injuries he thinks Gary's enjoying his new role and trying to figure out the best way to return to coaching uh and he didn't mind him going to UT or Baylor or due to the roles he took if he was a head coach there all of a sudden you have to face him on the sidelines and I'm sure it would be different yeah I mean I I didn't really mind the move to Texas initially it was really weird seeing him on the sidelines in that Texas game a few years ago against DCU the Baylor thing bothered me just because it's the biggest rival and I know he said like well just because I have a lot of respect for Dave Rand but I just thought it was weird um but I think you're right I feel like he's searching for you know what do I want to do next what makes sense for me from a coaching perspective because the role of the head coach has changed so much in the last few years and I mean it's been a long long time I mean I know technically he was an assistant the last couple stops because he was an analyst or a consultant but it's very different to step into a role where you're not the the loudest voice in the room or the voice in the room that carries the most weight and I think that would be a tough transition for anybody um Team McLoud says agree about GP coming back will be a great day he is TCU football yeah eventually it's got to happen I mean you know he's gonna be more involved and that'll be good I think it's gonna take some time though to to get there and to make that happen Matthew Welker says he hates to hear about the injuries he was never sold on Helm but he HS he was hoping he would improve and have a good season you know Avery had some tough moments last year but I think all Corners do I feel like he's really solid and I was excited to see what he was going to do in this defense um so I'm hope I hope that he has a speedy recovery and he's able to play quickly because I think he's going to surprise a lot of people with how well he'll do in more aggressive coverage situations moving forward so uh I think that's a really encouraging thing for him if he can get back on the field and do what he does best at a high level we'll be back back uh tomorrow it's lock on horn frogs your team we do it here every day thanks for making the show your first listen don't forget to check out lock on college football with Spencer mclin as well