TCU football’s opening-day depth chart features plenty of surprises
TCU’s opening-day depth chart has been released.
Coach Gary Patterson named sophomore Matthew Downing as the starting quarterback on Tuesday, although returning starter Max Duggan has been cleared to practice and is available to play.
But there’s plenty of other surprises as TCU readies for its opener against Iowa State on Saturday. Kickoff is at 12:30 p.m. at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Among the notable depth chart observations range from junior Emari Demercado emerging as the top running back to Parker Workman starting at defensive end to highly-touted transfers such as JD Spielman and Marcel Brooks not winning starting jobs.
Demercado won the starting job over five-star prospect Zach Evans, who is actually listed among the third-string options. Redshirt freshman Darwin Barlow is listed as the No. 2 running back followed by Evans, fellow true freshman Kendre Miller and redshirt freshman Daimarqua Foster as third-string options.
Of course, early-season depth charts don’t mean too much. Darius Anderson was listed as the third-string running back coming out of 2019 spring camp and ended up leading the team in rushing last season.
TCU’s wide receiver corps feature senior Dylan Thomas starting at the ‘X,’ junior Taye Barber at the ‘H,’ junior Pro Wells at the ‘Y,’ and redshirt freshman Blair Conwright at the ‘Z.’ Standout freshman Quentin Johnston is listed as the backup behind Thomas, while Nebraska transfer Spielman and junior Derius Davis are Barber’s backups. John Stephens Jr. is listed behind Wells at the ‘Y,’ while sophomore Mikel Barkley and freshman Savion Williams are backing up Conwright.
Senior Artayvious Lynn is the starting tight end with Wells and Carter Ware serving as the backups.
The offensive line has been completely overhauled after TCU lost its top three tackles and top interior lineman from last season.
Senior Austin Myers will start at left tackle after making two starts at right guard last season. Wes Harris is the left guard, replacing Cordel Iwuagwu. Esteban Avila won the center job over Coy McMillon. Quazzel White will start at right guard. White started two games at right guard and one game at left tackle last season. And redshirt freshman Andrew Coker is the starting right tackle after playing in three games as a true freshman in 2019.
Defensively, Ochaun Mathis is the No. 1 left end after starting every game last season. Senior Corey Bethley is expected to start his 26th consecutive game at defensive tackle on Saturday. Terrell Cooper is listed as the other starting defensive tackle, but Patterson said Cooper will be a game-time decision as he battles his way back from an injury.
Workman is the end starting opposite Mathis. Workman started one game and had one sack in 2019. Brooks and New Mexico transfer Dylan Horton are listed as Workman’s top backups. Freshman Khari Coleman and sophomore Colt Ellison are Mathis’ backups.
At linebacker, senior Garret Wallow is listed as the strong-side linebacker with sophomore Dee Winters at middle linebacker. Brooks, the highly-touted LSU transfer, is listed as a backup at middle linebacker along with Jamoi Hodge.
The secondary had the fewest, if any, surprises. Trevon Moehrig is the starting free safety and Ar’Darius Washington is the starting weak safety. Junior La’Kendrick Van Zandt won the starting strong safety job over Nook Bradford and Atanza Vongor.
As Patterson mentioned a couple weeks ago, the starting cornerbacks are Noah Daniels and Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson.
Finally, the special teams had little surprises as well. Sophomore Griffin Kell is the kicker, Jordy Sandy is the punter and Antonio Ortiz is the long snapper. Spielman is the No. 1 option to return punts, while Tomlinson is the kickoff returner.
Here’s a look at the full offensive and defensive depth charts:
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 10:30 AM.
