TCU News: “You’ve just got to believe that being at TCU, this guy’s equipped for good things.”

Baseball:

TCU baseball’s inconsistent season didn’t hurt in MLB draft as Frogs set record | The Star-Telegram

Now, we wait on the decisions of guys like Humphreys, Isola, and Guenther.

The program’s all-time leader in games played at 253, outfielder and Arlington Martin product Josh Watson went to the Oakland Athletics in the 15th round. The Milwaukee Brewers then took catcher Zach Humphreys in the 26th round, as Humphreys posted career-highs in batting average (.277), doubles (10), home runs (3) and RBIs (34) this season.

Other draft picks included Alex Isola to the Minnesota Twins in the 29th round; right-hander Jared Janczak to the Cleveland Indians in the 31st round; and Jake Eissler to the Indians in the 38th round.

TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle has now seen 84 players drafted in his 16 seasons.

TCU’s nine selections were part of a combined 48 picks from Big 12 schools, including a conference-record four players taken in the first 11 picks.

Derek Johnson talks the state of Reds pitching and top pick Nick Lodolo | The Athletic

In addition to glowing up the TCU program, Johnson also extols the virtues of players who go the collegiate route.

Do you know anything about (Lodolo)? Do you know (TCU pitching coach) Kirk Saarloos at all?

I know Kirk a little bit, not well. I watched some video (of Lodolo), and he’s impressive. He’s tall, he’s left-handed, he throws hard, he doesn’t walk guys. Any time you see that, it’s like, sheesh. It’s not like he’s 6-foot-6 and uncoordinated and might throw hard some day. He already does, and he already throws the ball across the plate. You’ve just got to believe that being at TCU, which is a very respectable program — and they play really good people and really good competition — you’ve got to believe this guy’s equipped for good things and fairly quickly.

Football:

TCU’s next offensive adjustment | Football Study Hall

Ian Boyd digs into some cryptic Gary Patterson quotes and comes out with some exciting offensive changes. After two seasons of bad O, it looks like we have reason to be excited for 2019.

Assuming that Jalen Reagor as a single side receiver would tend to be able to draw bracket coverage, the Frogs could run slot choice routes all day to spring standout Taye Barber, using play-action to create space for him before Baldwin simply threw him open down the field as he raced by safeties into open grass.

While quarterback has been tricky due to all of the transfers and turnover, the Horned Frogs otherwise figure to be in an up cycle on offense thanks to their experience and talent level across the OL combined with the presence of a true game-changer on the roster in Jalen Reagor. Had they managed to find a reliable distributor this offseason to play QB that likely would have been enough, but adding a talent downfield passer to run a veer and shoot style passing attack is another matter entirely.

How the Multi-Bye Week Schedule Might Shake Up the 2019 College Football Season | Sports Illustrated

How will the early bye effect the Horned Frogs and others?

Two Big 12 teams have Week 2 byes. Both Iowa State and TCU get the second week of the season off; each opens in Week 1 against an FCS team. (Iowa State takes on UNI, and TCU gets the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.) In a regular season, that would be far too early for a break and make for a brutal rest of the season, but not this year. In a sense, all this does is delay the start of real football for both teams from Week 1 until Week 3, when Iowa State hosts Iowa and TCU travels to Purdue. Each should get a chance to ease into the season, and TCU’s schedule takes that to the extreme: It’s off both Sept. 7 and again on Oct. 12, meaning that when it takes the field in Week 8, it will have played just five games.

Most important summer question facing each Big 12 team | 247 Sports

It’s the million dollar - or maybe the double digit win season - question.

TCU — CAN THE HORNED FROGS GET BETTER QUARTERBACK PLAY?

Shawn Robinson was supposed to be the next man up for TCU, which saw stellar quarterbacking from Trevone Boykin and pretty strong positional play from Kenny Hill. Instead, TCU sputtered to a team quarterback rating of 121.8, a pretty harsh crash given that Oklahoma State’s Trevor Cornelius, the No. 5 (and thus, middle-tier) starting quarterback in the league was at 144.7. Robinson is now gone, transferred to Missouri. And TCU will choose between run-first Kansas State graduate transfer Alex Delton, returning quarterbacks Michael Collins and Justin Rogers, true freshman and early enrollee Max Duggan and Ohio State quarterback transfer Matthew Baldwin, should he gain a waiver to play immediately. Whoever wins the job will have an offensive line with potential and what appears to be a strong receiving corps, and TCU should be TCU defensively. The key will be what comes from that QB spot.