Did TCU land the next Josh Doctson? Recruiting expert Billy Wessels talks 2020 class.
TCU football felt it had a banner day on Wednesday, hauling in a top-notch recruiting class for 2020.
The Horned Frogs flipped a couple high-profile targets such as Temple wide receiver Quentin Johnston and Louisiana safety Ja’Darius “Bud” Clark.
Overall, recruiting sites had TCU with respectable rankings. As far as Rivals, TCU has the No. 36 class in the country and No. 4 in the Big 12.
The Star-Telegram discussed the class with Billy Wessels, the publisher of TCU’s Rivals site PurpleMenace.com.
Wessels is probably best known among Frog fans for coining the nickname ‘Kenny Hustle’ for former basketball standout Kenrich Williams (who is now on the New Orleans Pelicans).
As far as his overall takeaway for this year’s football class, Wessels said: “I like this class a lot because it addressed two of the biggest areas of need — offensive line and sure-handed wide outs.”
Wessels pointed to wide receiver recruits such as Caleb Medford, Blake Nowell and Johnston.
“Medford is a big body that knows how to use it and high points really well,” Wessels said. “Nowell is even bigger and an all-around impressive earning all-district honors.
“Johnston is the key to this class right now. He has the ability to come in and be the next Josh Doctson. He has that kind of frame and spring. With all the drops the team had last year, he can solve a lot of woes.”
Johnston isn’t the only player who drew comparisons to former TCU greats. Wessels sees quarterback prospect Eli Williams having a lot of similar traits as former standout Trevone Boykin.
“Watching his tape, he reminds me so much of Boykin,” Wessels said. “He wears No. 2 and has that kind of dynamic athleticism.“
With Williams in the fold, Wessels is comfortable with TCU’s quarterback situation going forward. Max Duggan flashed signs of promise during his true freshman season, and Ohio State transfer Matthew Baldwin is a player with potential.
With those options, TCU saw commit Jimmy Holiday flip to Tennessee and also appears to be a long shot to land Highland Park quarterback Chandler Morris.
“Holiday wants to play QB, that’s why he’s going to Tennessee. Morris is getting interest from any and everywhere,” Wessels said. “With Duggan and Baldwin in the room, there’s less need for a quarterback in this class anyway.”
The early signing period concludes today. The traditional signing period remains the first Wednesday of February (Feb. 5 in 2020).
