Which TCU players will have a bounce back season for Sonny Dykes?

so I told you the other day that TCU really struck out on some guys with that 2023 transfer class but some of those players still have eligibility and there's some guys that could bounce back in a big way we'll talk about all that and more next turn on lockdown horn frogs at 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 lockon horn frogs your team every day thanks for making the show your first listen subscribe to the YouTube channel we're also available wherever it is you like to listen to podcast subscribe on those platforms we're free and available wherever podcasts are found thank you for making uh me part of the show Da watching on YouTube or you're listening the oldfashioned way how podcasts were originally consumed but I appreciate it regardless of how you're taking in the show today um as we continue get closer to that first game against Stanford the other day I mentioned that this is going to be a big year for tcu's scouting department and yeah colleges have a scouting department now I mean basically it's kind of like the NFL there are a select few guys that their job and Jeff Jordan's got some some different roles but his main job is to scout for TCU and I heard Sunny say on The Ticket radio station in Dallas earlier this off season because Corby Davidson was asking him like how do you possibly with all the players that are playing around the country how do you possibly find the time and ability to narrow that field down and narrow your scope so that you're not breaking down film for every player that could potentially hit the portal and sunny said well the way they've gone about it is they have a list of guys that they had good relationships with from the high school recruiting process so they didn't end up Landing these players but they built a rapport with the family they feel like if they were to jump in the portal it would be really easy to strike up that conversation again and then they also have a list of guys who are from the Metroplex the Dallas Fort Worth area that if their name goes on the portal they can quickly get a Scouting Report going and say hey if you want to come back home we think there's a place for you to fit but it's a big year because in all honesty a number of the guys that they brought in during 2023 they just they kind of out on they they were players that didn't find the role that they were looking for this past season the good news is some of those guys have more eligibility left so they're going to be back on the roster again this season and maybe another year under their belt some time to recover they could bounce back and so some of the names I'd like to bring up today the first one is dalen Wright big outside wide receiver for TCU and he came in last season last off season uh had had some minimal production at Minnesota but had done some big things like had a really good game against Ohio State a few years back had 86 yards against Wisconsin in their season opener two years ago so he showed flashes now overall in his career coming into last season he had 365 yards in 2021 in Minnesota and then 280 in 2022 last year 11 receptions 187 yards two touchdowns now when he made plays he made some big ones I mean remember he had a big catch and touchdown against Colorado uh another big catch and touchdown against West Virginia you saw that size and ability at times but he dealt with some injuries missed a lot of time and this upcoming year he's battling with Eric mallister for that second spot on the outside Savon Williams has one uh outside wide receiver position pretty much locked down and then the other one is the battle between D and and Eric mallister and it reminded me of Kane Rob who hosts the lock on Golden Gopher show I reached out to him when dalen transferred over and originally I tried to get on the show but logistically it just didn't work out and so I said hey could you just give me a little background on who he is and I wanted to read it because I just think it's important for this context to to be shared he said honestly I can tell you that the staff and his teammates have both said the talent on dalon is unreal size strength and speed are great just built to be a dominating wide receiver one of his newer teammates in January at Minnesota prior to transferring even said this guy might be one of the most gifted wide receivers I've ever played with the only thing that stood in dal's way is DAL not necessarily trouble off the field but attitude disagreements with usage or giving up a play giving up on a play when he's on the dude is an absolute Alpha wide receiver he has caught the eye of Scouts who have come through great hands can win the contested catch great at the High Point speed to separate good in route running and has put the work in to have his body right um so all the potential on the in the world and you hear those comments former teammates in Minnesota were like look this dude can play he's very gifted he has the talent and the skill set to be a dominant outside wide receiver so that's all super positive and he was he spoke with the media earlier this week he said he's excited for the season he did bring up an interesting sort of anecdote And he as many other coaches and and uh players have mentioned as we lead up to the year just said hey last year culture wasn't fully there it wasn't fully ingrained it didn't come together like they wanted it to and he said you know I think a lot of these a lot of the transfers that TCU brought in we were trying to all get to know each other and we didn't have a great feel for our role and understanding one another before that Colorado game which I can't really disagree with that it is super intriguing to hear him say that because the whole reason that I was super confident in TCU going into that game was I thought they had a lot more continuity than Colorado which was basically starting a whole new team and I think at the end of the day there there was h a more even playing field with all the turnover that both rosters had had and what honestly showed up in that ball game in my mind was the quarterback for Colorado Shor Sanders was better than chanler Morris and Travis Hunter was the best player on the field and there were other things that went down defense had a horrible day but like in my mind the big plays that had to happen they happened for Colorado whether it was that interception on Third and goal by Travis Hunter the big catch on like a third and 18 where the defense finally had a chance to get Colorado off the field and and make a swing play but bottom line was at all that turnover that Colorado had or essentially starting a new roster it didn't really matter because of the key positions they had better players that day and TCU made mistakes but dalen's more comfortable now he says he's got a really good relationship with Malcolm Kelly he's coming in he's working hard he's ready to rock and roll he's got a better chemistry now with Josh Hoover because they've had more time together so I hope it works you know the the few times that I brought him up this offseason I have said I'm a little wary because I just think at a certain point you are what you are people can change players can develop they can grow but I mean we're talking about year four of playing football for for dalen and I I would love for this to be the season for it all to come together and coales and really pop for him um and you might say well we we said the same thing about Savon Williams but savon's had more production through his career and and you know yeah he's got some questions to answer too all that being said TCU still has a chance to kind of change the narrative with that transfer class that they brought in like with a guy like dalen wri who's gonna get another shot to play this year and be a bigger factor in this offense you know another um player that fits that mold is Colton Deary who's moved over you know he start he came over as a center he could shift over to guard depending on what happens between him and James brocker as they battle it out but he's a good interior offensive lineman made the move from Maryland wrestler in high school good size good athletic ability there's a chance for him to be a key centerpiece of this offensive line joejo Earl another player that came in with a lot of potential as someone who could make things happen on special teams also uh just as a a good receiver you know it looks like they started him in the slot now they're going to bump him to the outside which I think is kind of a curious move but with his size but he did have really good game against Oklahoma it felt like he was starting to get more comfortable as the season went on and so that's another name okay there's there's an opportunity here to sort of to sort of change what we know about these players because it's not just a one-year rental there's a chance for them to continue to grow and develop as players under this coaching staff uh JP Richardson obviously had an outstanding season last year Jack bash dealt with a lot of injuries they're gonna try to move him around in the formation he was a former freshman All-American at LSU like this is a guy with talent that can play I'm super excited about both the tight end room with I do like Drake Dabney also Chase Curtis who's been around for a while but then you add Jack B of the mix with how you can move him around the formation whether it's in the slot as an inline tight end in you know HB set whatever the case is can you isolate him in some favorable matchups that's going to be a key for Kendall bral and this coaching staff um so a lot of dudes who have a chance to sort of flip what we thought about them after last season Trey Sanders was good in short yardage of times last year Sunny Dy says he's healthy and that running back room with another spot that going into spring camp even Sunny admittedly was like you know what we had concerns about it but cam cook has answered the Bell so far um Trey sers behind him looks healthier looks like he could be more explosive even though you don't really need him to be a home run hitter you just need him to keep moving the chains get dirty yards um convert in those short yard situations Nate Palmer super talented freshman Trent battle has done some nice things catching the ball the Back Field sort of a change of pace third down back and then you brought in Dominick Johnson from Arkansas who's also sort of a batter in Ram uh I wonder if they go to some more two um running back formations this upcoming year just to keep the defense guessing um and there's a lot of cool things that you can do and maybe that takes the place of some of the quarterback run game that Kendall's been so known for in his career having an extra option back there to hand the ball off to but it's an actual running back as opposed to your typical QB so um there's an opportunity for TCU to really change the way we viewed that transfer class because there's a lot of guys on this roster who could have breakout seasons despite what happened last year another player that's looking for a bounceback here and that spoke with the media Johnny Hodes a linebacker he talked about the defense what he's excited about we'll break that down coming up next it's lockdown horn frogs it's your team we do it here every day I do need to talk about our friends at FanDuel it's the summertime unfortunately the Rangers stink they're in a bad way they lost the next yearning game to the Red Sox tonight at finnway Park I'm recording this on on a Monday evening but the summer is the perfect time to join FanDuel one we're getting closer to football season so there's going to be all kinds of prop bets and overunderish and bonuses every day that's right every single day this offseason they're giving customers boost and bonuses 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that didn't look great and so he decided to go with a blonde look but if you check out the frogs Insider YouTube page where his press conference is up there you'll see uh you'll see what I'm talking about by the way if you want to hear more cool stories about college football make sure you make locked on college football your a second listen Spence from glin get you ready for an exciting season with discussion on the everchanging landscape of College athletics including conference reignment transfer portal nil new college football expanded playoffs and more lock on college football is available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast part of the lockon podcast Network you Team every day so the newly blonde Johnny Hodes was uh talking about this defense and what he's looking forward to he says installs going really well they feel like they know what they're doing honestly he just mentioned the challenge now is recalling all the things that they learned at the start of spring camp so there's still new Concepts being introduced they're trying to digest those trying to get them down make sure they're mastering them but they're also trying to keep in mind all the different things that they were learning at the beginning of this process and he said this is a really complex defense and you know bud Clark went into detail when he spoke with the media a few days ago about how much you loved this defensive line loved what they were doing the fact that as someone who's playing in the secondary there's not as much pressure on them they don't have to cover for nearly as long because they're getting pressure on the quarterback and when Johnny Hodes was asked by Jeremy Clark from horn fog Blitz about what he's most excited about within this defense he he just said the different fronts the different coverages they're going to disguise a lot of what they're doing and last year that was not the case right like I mean he he didn't bluntly say this but people that watched the TCU defense understood that was not a defense that was really known for or was trying to confuse people they're trying to play straight up keep things in front of them uh and it didn't work now bringing more pressure it's not just a magic formula for Success um but trying to conf confuse the the offenses that you're playing keeping them guessing that is a big deal and if TCU can do that on a more consistent basis this year and take advantage of it by causing turnovers or creating negative plays and that will be a huge boost for this defense the upcoming season he also said that he feels like the culture's better he doesn't hear as many people nearly as many people that are complaining like they did last year supposedly I'm at the point with the mentality stuff like I just need to see it on the field I I'm I really appreciate that the guys feel like they're in a much better place with that um but ultimately like it's gonna have to happen on the football field before I fully kind of buy into the wholesale change that they're talking about but I I love what they're getting at with uh you know the just the fact that the team is interested in moving forward having more of a a dog mentality and really repairing some of the issues that were there last year so um exciting things happening with his defense and I think there's a role I think there's definitely a role for Johnny Hodes with what they're doing he took Heat last year because I mean he was put in some bad situations offensive coordinators figured out that isolating him in coverage and space was a way to make things happen and so hopefully Andy aalos can shift that responsibility off him I mean not completely but just put him in better situation to to succeed but as someone who can come downhill and have good run fits and be physical and make plays in that aspect of the game they need dudes like that because they were not good at stopping the run last year coach a said recently like the first six or seven practices fall Camp that's almost exclusively what they're working on because if you can't stop the run if you can't be good at the point of attack if you're getting shoved off the ball then your defense is not gonna be good and so they have to get back to more of that physical mentality I think Johnny's gonna be a part of that and I'm excited to see all the different wrinkles that the defense can use to their advantage this year because it's gonna be a totally different scheme and approach than what they've been doing so hopefully they can catch some teams by surprise I mean starting with Stanford by just having very different looks on the field than what they put out there this past season um and maybe that's good for a win or two on the schedule which would be a a big deal deal and a huge boost considering that wasn't really something you know it didn't feel like they caught anybody off guard last year especially on that side of the ball with what they were doing but it was exciting to hear from both those guys and Johnny wasn't a part of that 2023 transfer class he's part of 2022 he's still here though and has a chance to you know bounce back in a race what was a tough year for the whole defense last season and he was putting in some tough situations himself personal wi we'll get some of your reaction when we come back it's locked on horn frog your team every day eBay Motors whether you're trying to level up your car to Peak Performance or just maintain your vehicle you need to check out Ebay motors millions of parts for your MVP you can win every time with parts that fit you ride they have the eBay guaranteed fit program you put in the makeing model of your vehicle you choose the parts that you think you need you put in the shopping cart it will tell you immediately yes this is the right part no it's not you will not burn Rubber or you'll burn Rubber not cash excuse me with the help of emay Motors they're not going to have you wasting your money don't take a chance at your 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been on that for a few months honestly like they've been really hitting it hard with install trying to go to Concepts down trying to understand all fa facets of the defense and Kendall said they've T taken more of a me he mentioned how they haven't started preparing for Stanford yet he also said that he doesn't look at practice as a chance to win competition against Andy aalos like he's just trying to work on his Concepts understand what they're doing and get to a place where they're mastering the things that they want to do uh Jim Norris said Steve have always understood that the defense usually comes together faster than the offense yeah I think that's conventional wisdom and that sort of football 101 it just surprised me because of the new scheme the defense is installing so I thought that would be flipped on its head a little bit this year at least um I will say last year the offense seem to be ahead of the defense and we were all sort of like oh this offense is just going to be really good and that did not happen um the offense struggled but the defense did as well and so you know it can tell you or it can give you a little glimpse into the team at times um Vince Brer says in my experience during Camp defense is always ahead of the offense offense is more experimental BRS is likely figuring out how his key players will respond in given situations you're right I mean it's more complex with the offense you've got a lot of moving Parts um you're trying to figure out what's working you're trying to get timing down defense is a little more instinctual flying to the football making plays I would also venture to Guess that the offense is not really showing their whole Playbook and so the defense is starting to kind of get a feel for okay if they're in this formation or line up this way this is probably what they're running um T mcken says he thinks they'll have a seven or eight win season he's a strong believer in the Run game and the defense in the pass game he's not fully convinced but he would love to be proven wrong yeah that's where I'm at I think seven and five eight and four be a step forward and I feel like that's very doable um let's see here devil frog says with the talent this team has year in year out 10 wins has to be the minimum every season that'll be the threshold for a playoff bid well I certainly think that's a good expectation to have I don't know how realistic it is to have that expectation each and every year but I feel like yeah that's what Sunny D wants to do and that's what where he wants to get his team at some point in his 10e William Royal says with this schedule I think even at six and six there's some issues or major injuries if you go seven and five or eight and five he thinks that would signal Improvement and give you a chance to really build on 2025 yeah you know the thing about the schedule to me is I get where people are coming from I feel like there's gonna be a lot of competitive games on the schedule though which means you have to be really good in the details and you have to win close ball games and that's not something that TCU did well this last this past year hopefully they can proove on it this year it's lockdown horn frogs it's your team we do it here every day