Sunday Sermon: Jalen Reagor isn’t the only first-team All-big 12 snub for TCU

The Big 12 released it’s end-of-season team honors earlier this week, and two Horned Frogs made it on to the first team. Ben Banogu and LJ Collier both made first team All-Big 12, and both deserved to be on the list. Banogu and Collier anchored a defensive line that saw multiple tackles go down with injuries throughout the season, but their abilities from the end of the line still made TCU’s front six a force to be reckoned with.

Four more Frogs made the second team: WR Jalen Reagor, OT Lucas Niang, CB Jeff Gladney, and S Ridwan Issahaku.

It’s cool that TCU had six players make these teams in a season that saw so many injuries, but also one of the best coaching jobs of Patterson’s career.

But I’m here to tell you something you probably already know: Jalen Reagor got snubbed.

I’m also here to tell you something you may not have considered yet: So did Ben Banogu and Jeff Gladney.

But let’s start with Reagor.

Jalen Reagor should have been first team All-Big 12

First Team All-Big 12 Receivers: David Sills (WVU), Marquise Brown (OU), Tylan Wallace (OSU)

It’s hard to argue against the seasons that Tylan Wallace and Hollywood Brown had for their respective teams, and David Sills hauled in 15 receiving touchdowns in the regular season.

But beyond simple things like yards (of which Reagor had almost 200 yards more than Sills, who wasn’t even the leading receiver on his own team in that regard), it’s important to note how big of an impact players had on their offenses.

For instance, Jalen Reagor didn’t have the benefit of playing across from a CeeDee Lamb or a Gary Jennings. Sure KaVontae Turpin was a great receiver, but he was kicked off the team in October.

Not to mention, Turpin’s receiving numbers (410 yards and three touchdowns) are still good enough for second on the team this season. So who is the No. 2 receiver on TCU’s team behind Reagor?

Taye Barber? Jaelan Austin? Derius Davis? None have had more than four receptions in a game this month.

Reagor has accounted for 39% of TCU’s receiving yards and 50% of TCU’s receiving touchdowns on 31% of TCU’s receptions this season. Those numbers jump significantly in Turpin’s absence:

For comparison, here are the numbers for Sills, Brown, and Wallace, relative to their total passing offenses.

When you also consider that Reagor had three different quarterbacks throwing to him, and he was consistently the far-and-away top priority for opposing defenses, his numbers become even more impressive.

It’s always tough to get a receiver on the first-team list in a conference stacked with offensive powerhouses, but Reagor probably should have gotten the first team nod.

Jeff Gladney should have been first team All-Big 12, because he was arguably the best corner in the league this year

Consider this: TCU had the Big 12’s No. 1 total defense, No. 1 passing defense, and No. 2 scoring defense in 2018. They had the No. 26 total defense in the country.

They played the No. 1, No. 2, No. 8, No. 10, No. 12, No. 39, No. 58, and No. 78 offenses (in total offenses) in the country. When considering passing offenses, those same eight offenses actually change to the Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 25, 27, and 37 passing offenses in the country. They only faced one FBS school not in the Top 100 in passing this year (Kansas State).

Now consider that at some point in the season, TCU was playing without the following guys: DT Ross Blacklock, DT Joe Broadnax, DT Terrell Cooper, DE LJ Collier, LB Garret Wallow, LB Ty Summers, S Innis Gaines, S Niko Small, S Vernon Scott, S Markell Simmons, CB Julius Lewis.

Meanwhile, there was Jeff Gladney (and Ray Issahaku), holding down the fort.

Gladney finished the regular season with 13 passes defended, including an interception against Oklahoma State. Now, he wasn’t always following the other team’s best receiver at any given time, because that’s not how a Gary Patterson defense operates, but consider this fact: TCU has played the No. 8, No. 10, and No. 39 overall offenses (No. 3, 12, and 25 passing offenses) in the last three games, and Gladney hasn’t allowed a score. That’s incredible.

But beyond that, looking at the guys who got the award, it seems there may be more hype than substance atop the list. It happens, especially when big name teams have decent seasons, but let’s not kid ourselves, Gladney earned top conference honors, even if folks didn’t recognize it.

Ben Banogu should have been Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year

Really all we need for this one is a tweet.