MMQB: #WhoNext

As the summer makes its final laps, and the start of fall ball inches closer, TCU Football continues to keep an eye toward the future, making offers and getting verbal commitments from future high-impact players.

Last week, the Horned Frogs added two highly rated defenders, four star defensive back D’Arco Perkins and three star defensive lineman Joseph Adedire.

Perkins hails from Nashville, TN, where he attends Stratford Comprehensive. A 4* prospect, Perkins becomes the highest rated player in TCU’s 2022 class, coming in with a rating of .9000. At 6’1”, he’s got great size at the position, and checks the requisite speed boxes as well. Having reclassified to the class of 2022, Perkins played in just seven games in 2021, but the season before, recorded 62 total tackles with 10 pass breakups and two interceptions in nine games. His proclivity on the field earned him 37 offers, including Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. Most analysts had him choosing between the Frogs and Volunteers, and on July 11th, he made his decision.

247 Sports recruiting analyst Clint Brewster had this to say about Perkins:

Perkins-McAllister is a versatile defender in the defensive secondary with high-end athletic abilities. Perkins-McAllister tested very well on the camp circuit and has solid size to go along with speed and explosiveness on the field. He has a knack for creating splash plays on both sides of the ball and shows outstanding physicality when he makes contact on defense. Makes accelerated contact on defense and runs the alley with great integrity to make a tackle. Can play safety, slot corner, or outside cornerback at the next level. Sets the tone with his ability to make big hits from the secondary. Still raw technically but upside potential is immense with instincts, athletic ability, and tackling.

Able to play multiple positions on the field, Perkins will have the opportunity to compete early on in the TCU defensive secondary, one that has sent two players to NFL camps this year and features a good mix of experience and young talent this fall.

In addition to Perkins, TCU also reeled in a local prospect in Mansfield Summit lineman Joseph Adedire. A three star prospect, Adedire checks in at 6’2” and 250 pounds, and is currently the third-highest rated prospect in the Frogs’ 2022 class. He chose TCU from amongst 19 offers, including Baylor, LSU, Iowa State, and Michigan, as well as academic powerhouses Cal, Northwestern, and Georgia Tech — so he should be a star in the classroom and on the field. Adedire was a Texas District 4-5A Division I first-team selection as a junior as he recorded 53 tackles — 20 for a loss — and 12 sacks. He’s incredibly disruptive, with three PBUs and two forced fumbles last year as well.

Adedire is a top 50 player in the state and one of the best at his position in the country, and a kid who connected with TCU coach Zarnell Fitch in a big way, something that ultimately helped seal the deal for the Frogs.

Though the Frogs have just six commitments in the class of 2022 at the moment, it’s a really quality group, with an average rating of .8694. That would be one of the stronger classes for TCU by pure rating, and should only improve as Gary Patterson and co look to round it out in the coming months.

In other football news, Frog fans were certainly entertained by Gary Patterson’s appearance last week at Billy Bob’s Texas. The long time TCU Football coach, who dropped his first two songs as a quarantine pet project last year, performed alongside Fin Ewing and the Wrong Direction and TCU alum — and country music star — JT Hodges as part of a fundraiser for his non profit organization, The Big Good, a venture that also includes Fort Worth musician Leon Bridges.

Coach P took the stage in front of nearly 1,000 spectators, performing his previous hits: Take a Step Back and Game On, as well as several new songs. “I think that’s one of the things about these songs, that you want people to understand your story. I just wanted to tell mine,” he told ESPN. “They’re shocked. How does a 61-year-old guy that acts like that out there stand up there singing a song called ‘Lonely Blue Eyes,’ about somebody he knew when he was 27 years old? I mean, there’s no possible way that can be that same person.”

Patterson’s music has been streamed over 74,000 times on Spotify, but with a net payout of around $10, Frog fans don’t need to worry that he’s looking to quit his day job.