As TCU football opens spring practices, all eyes are on the quarterback competition
.png "TCU quarterback Max Duggan (15) worked with the first team as the Frogs opened spring practices on Tuesday.")
TCU football opened its spring practices on Tuesday morning.
All eyes are on the quarterback competition with coach Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley entering their first season with the Frogs.
Overall, Dykes came away pleased with what he saw on Day 1. The team returns for the second of 15 spring practices at 6:45 a.m. Thursday.
“It’s a long way from a finished product, but I’m encouraged,” Dykes said. “At the end of the day, there’s some ability to throw the ball and some athletic ability and an ability to make some decisions and get the ball to the right people. That’s a starting point. You have to check that box before you can get to the next one. I feel like that box has been checked.
“Now we have to get the guys consistent, work on the details, teach them all the little things that make a quarterback good.”
Senior Max Duggan, who has started 29 of the last 32 games for the Frogs, took the first-team reps on Tuesday followed by redshirt freshman Chandler Morris with the second team and redshirt freshman Sam Jackson with the third team.
During the 11-on-11 portions of practice, Duggan played three series and finished 6-for-11 passing (unofficially). Duggan’s best throw during team drills came in the first series when he connected on a deep route with Quentin Johnston. Duggan also had receivers drop two of his passes.
“It was fun. It was good to get back out there,” he said. “Obviously, it was a long winter of winter workouts and lifting, so it was good to get back out there with all the guys, starting to move around, doing a little bit with the ball.”
Morris went 8-for-9 passing (unofficially) and was “sacked” once during his three series in the team portion. Morris’ favorite target was walk-on senior Gunnar Henderson, who caught five of Morris’ passes.
Asked about receivers to keep an eye on this spring, Morris smiled and said: “Definitely Gunnar. He’s been grinding this offseason, so he’s definitely going to be one to look out for. I’m obviously going to show him some love, he’s my roommate too.”
Jackson, meanwhile, finished 5 for 5 (unofficially), connecting with wide receiver Blake Nowell for three catches.
The only other quarterback who saw action during the 11-on-11 portion was true freshman Josh Hoover, who was 1-for-3 passing in his lone series. Hoover almost had a pass intercepted by safety D’Arco Perkins-McAllister.
Again, it was only Day 1 but the quarterback battle will be a central talking point throughout the spring and into fall camp.
“That’s a very unusual position,” Dykes said. “Because if you went and did a skills test right now in the NFL, you took all the starting quarterbacks in the league, Tom Brady probably finishes close to last, you know what I mean? When you measure speed and you measure arm strength and you measure all of these things that are supposed to be the things that make you good, he probably doesn’t measure particularly well. But the only thing that matters is what happens on Sunday. It’s the same way for our guys.
“It’s cool when they’re big, and it’s cool when they’re fast, and all of that stuff. It’s fun for people to talk about it. The bottom line is whoever makes the best decisions and makes the guys around them better will be the quarterback.”
Duggan is coming off a season in which he threw for 2,048 yards with 16 touchdowns to six interceptions and a 64% completion percentage. He underwent foot surgery following the season but said he is 100% for the spring.
Morris had a breakout game in leading TCU to an upset victory over then-No. 12 Baylor last season. In limited action, he completed 66% of his passes (50 of 76) for 695 yards with three TDs and no interceptions.
Jackson had limited snaps in two games last season, completing his only pass attempt for 77 yards and rushing for 15 yards on six carries. Hoover is in his first college season.
For now, those are the four leading candidates to start when TCU opens the season at Colorado on Sept. 2. Of course, there’s the possibility another quarterback is added to the roster following spring practices as more QBs could enter the NCAA’s transfer portal.
Dykes cautioned reading too much into the depth chart early this spring.
“Basically it’s as simple as putting guys on a list,” he said. “All right, there’s five quarterbacks, we’re just going to list them. Obviously Max has played a lot of snaps, so he’s going to go with the ones early on. Chandler has played the second most, so he’ll go with the twos. That’s just kind of the way it is.
“We’re not a big depth chart team. That’s going to be adjusted pretty much daily on how somebody practices and their consistency. The big thing that we’re looking for is somebody who makes people around them better. Some guys have a knack for doing that, some guys don’t.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 3:41 PM.
