TCU football preview: Josh Hoover leads a deeper group of quarterbacks
With TCU’s season opener at Stanford a week away, it’s time to start taking a deeper look at the Horned Frogs’ roster post training camp.
The quarterback position has never been more valuable in college football with seemingly every program outside of Army and Navy running some type of spread-like offense.
The Horned Frogs believe they’re in a better place at this position than a season ago, but it’s still a question mark headed into the regular season.
Here’s a breakdown of the TCU quarterbacks with some intel from training camp:
The Starter
QB1: Josh Hoover
Breakdown: Unlike the last two seasons, there was no quarterback battle during camp this season as Sonny Dykes made it clear that Hoover would be the guy for this season. TCU didn’t really pursue more experienced quarterbacks in the portal in an effort to avoid causing conflict with Hoover and it’s not hard to see why. Hoover threw for 2,206 yards and 15 touchdowns last season filling in for Chandler Morris in six starts plus two more appearances.
Hoover had five games with at least 300 yards passing including 439 and 412 in wins against BYU and Baylor. Hoover’s quarterback rating of 77.0 ranked No. 19 in the country according to ESPN. Hoover did struggle with turnovers as he had an interception in every game he played, but Hoover showed signs of press with his ball security at camp. There weren’t many turnover worthy plays and over time Hoover began to become more comfortable picking his spots to be aggressive or just taking the completion in front of him.
If Hoover takes the next step in his development, then he could be one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12.
Next up
QB2: Ken Seals
The future: Hauss Hejny
Breakdown: TCU has better depth with two scholarship quarterbacks available if something happens to Hoover. It would be a surprise if either pushes Hoover to become the starter during the season. During training camp Dykes kept the structure the same everyday with Seals taking reps with the second team offense and Hejny with the third-team offense. Seals has been steady as a backup and has been what TCU has expected since bringing him in from Vanderbilt.
Seals is smart, understands the offense and is at his best getting the ball out of his hands quickly to his playmakers. He has more athleticism than you may think as well. There’s a ceiling with Seals leading the offense, but he’s more than capable of leading TCU to a win or two if called in.
There’s a lot of anticipation surrounding what type of role Hejny will have this season. The former state champion at Aledo is one of the most dynamic players on the roster with his speed and arm strength. Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles said TCU was still trying to figure out how much to get Hejny involved this season. Even with two more experienced, polished quarterbacks in front of him, his talent makes it tempting to find the ways to get the ball in his hands.
However, as talented as Hejny is, it’s fair to say he’s not ready yet to be a full-time starter at this level. Most true freshmen aren’t, so it’s not a knock, it’s just that Hejny is still in the early phases of his development. The ideal situation for Hejny is he’s able to get on the field for four games and preserve his redshirt while getting live game reps.
Best case scenario: Hoover puts up the same big numbers while limiting the turnovers as he unlocks TCU’s passing offense with over 3,600 yards, 27 touchdowns and under eight interceptions as TCU responds to last year’s 5-7 campaign with a strong bowl berth.
Worst case scenario: Hoover still puts up gaudy numbers, but the turnover problems persist and it ends up costing TCU games. The Horned Frogs may be tempted to turn to Seals, but will stick with Hoover as the Horned Frogs struggle to make a bowl game for a second straight year.
