TCU News: Frogs Land BIG Man, Picked 5th

Football:

TCU places fifth in Big 12 football poll with OU as favorite | The Star-Telegram

The impression I have gotten from GP is that he’s cautiously optimistic about this team on the field, and very high on them as far as character off the field.

Following TCU, in poll order, were West Virginia, Baylor, Texas Tech, Iowa State and Kansas. The poll was released one day after the Frogs landed four players on Wednesday’s All-Big 12 preseason team: center Austin Schlottmann, kick returner KaVontae Turpin, linebacker Travin Howard and safety Nick Orr.

Only Texas and Oklahoma, with five selections each, placed more players on the 29-member squad than TCU. The annual Big 12 football media days are scheduled Monday and Tuesday in Frisco.　

Ranking the Top 100 College Football Teams for 2017: No. 44 TCU | Hero Sports

Just how good are the 2017 Frogs? We should have a pretty good idea after week two, when TCU travels to Fayetteville to take on an Arkansas team the pundits seem awfully high on. Most do not appear to believe in the Frogs - which is just the way we like it.

PS: Watch out for Ross Blacklock... the D Line is younger, but ridiculously talented.

After allowing 40 or more points in three of their first five games -- including 41 against South Dakota State -- TCU's defense tightened, not yielding more than 34 the rest of the season. They held Texas Tech to 27 in an overtime loss in late October.

Neither Travin Howard (below) nor Ty Summers are flashy playmakers at linebacker but they're reliable tackling machines, combining for 251 tackles last year.

“If we asked Travin to go play noseguard today, he’d step in there and go play nose guard the best he could and wouldn’t have a question about it,” defensive coordinator Chad Glasgow said in December.

Richwood duo turns camps into scholarships | The News-Star

An under the radar Louisiana prospect looks like the next great defender for Coach P’s 4-2-5.

Ceasar wasted little time committing to TCU after Richwood assistant coach Adrian Manning called to tell him the Horned Frogs had made an offer. TCU tentatively plans to line the 5-11, 175 lb. defensive back up at safety and cornerback.

“I was so happy when I got that call,” Ceasar said. “I wanted to get my commitment out of the way so it didn’t take me long at all to decide.

Commitment Impact: Anthony McKinney | 247 Sports

Iowa fans are LIVID that they missed out on this kid, and it’s easy to see why; he’s a mountain of a man that should step into a starting role from day one.

This is a huge recruiting impact for the Frogs as they beat out Oklahoma among others for his services. The job done by new offensive line coach Chris Thomsen to land McKinney can't go without notice; he did a great job. TCU has done a great job at landing recruits from the Iowa JUCO program in recent years; most recently with senior receiver Taj Williams, who led the Frogs in receiving last season. This also happens to be a huge position need for the class. McKinney is the third highest rated commitment for the Frogs' 2018 class.