TCU football practice report: QB Max Duggan has his best day
When it comes to determining TCU’s starting quarterback in the fall, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley had a simple answer.
“The biggest thing is just consistency,” he said. “Who can get the ball from A to B at the highest rate and who can put us in position to move the football and take care of the ball? Who can do all of those things consistently?
“It’s a hard position to evaluate. There’s certain metrics you can go by and quantitative things you can go by. At the end of the day, it’s just kind of who makes everybody else better. That’s what you’ve really got to evaluate on top of all of that stuff.”
For TCU, the QB competition remains ongoing through five of 15 spring practices. Just when it looked like redshirt freshman Chandler Morris might take the early edge, senior Max Duggan turned in his best practice on Thursday.
The offense, quite simply, moved better with Duggan than Morris on Day 5.
Duggan flashed during team and 7-on-7 drills.
In one team series with the first team, Duggan went 3 for 3 passing with two completions to Quentin Johnston and another to Derius Davis.
In a 7-on-7 sequence, Duggan’s first play was a ball in the dirt intended for Davis. Then he responded with three straight completions of 15-plus yards. He found Blair Conwright over the middle on a deep slant, connected with Blake Nowell on a deep pass and then hit Davis on a deep slant.
Morris, meanwhile, had a solid day but wasn’t as accurate with the deep ball as he’s been in previous practices.
There doesn’t appear to be an answer coming anytime soon on the Frogs’ QB search. Heck, with so many players expected to enter the portal following spring practices, next year’s starter may not even be on the roster at this point.
But Duggan and Morris have both flashed potential of being that guy through five practices.
Asked about his overall QB assessment, Riley said: “It’s just been a good foundation, you know? Anytime you have some transition offensively as coaches you really want them to come out knowing what to do, knowing the operation, knowing just how to command everybody else. Even if they’re wrong, just have that presence of commanding an offense.
“I think we’ve gotten off to a good starting point that way. There’s a million things we’ve got to continue getting better at, but I’ve been pleased with that part.”
Other takeaways from Day 5 —
▪ Linebacker Johnny Hodges continues to make a favorable impression early on. Hodges had a tipped pass to force an incompletion during 7-on-7 and has been running with the first-team for most of camp.
▪ TCU’s defense had another takeaway during team drills. Linebacker Luke Lingard intercepted a pass by redshirt freshman Sam Jackson. Takeaways are an emphasis for the Frogs this offseason as they ranked tied for 112th in turnovers gained (12) last season.
▪ Noah Daniels and Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson have been the first-team cornerbacks all spring. The starting safeties on Thursday were D’Arco Perkins-McAllister, Nook Bradford and Mark Perry. Defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie had good things to say about Perry, who is emerging as a vocal leader in the secondary.
▪ Gillespie also had good things to say about true freshman nose tackle Damonic Williams, who is holding his own against some of TCU’s veteran offensive linemen. Said Gillespie: “I’ve got to remind myself, I’m talking about a guy that should be going to the prom right now and here he is playing at an elite level against some pretty darn good offensive linemen. He’s doing a really good job right now.”
▪ Backup defensive end Colt Ellison had a solid day Thursday. He made a nice play during the team portion, stuffing running back Emani Bailey for a loss.
▪ Riley on wide receiver Gunnar Henderson: “He’s making plays. He’s not just the guy everybody loves, the try-hard guy. The dude’s a player on top of that. He can really play.”
▪ Riley has also been impressed by true freshman quarterback Josh Hoover. Hoover has been getting the last team reps this spring. Said Riley: “He belongs. That’s a simple way to put it for a freshman quarterback who comes early. Does it look like he belongs early? And he does.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 1:03 PM.
