Life after Eric McAlister: How TCU is rebuilding its wide receiver room
One of the biggest questions facing TCU football during spring camp is how the program will replace wide Eric McAlister.
McAlister was a first-team All-Big 12 receiver last season with 1,190 yards and 10 touchdowns and is expected to be the latest Horned Frog wideout to reach the NFL with the draft slated for April 23-25. TCU will also need to replace veteran slot receiver Joseph Manjack, who had 579 yards and three touchdowns last season.
Having to replace over 1,700 yards of production would be daunting for most programs, but TCU wide receivers coach Malcolm Kelly is no stranger to it. Kelly said he has been pleased with the early progression of the Horned Frogs’ receivers during spring camp.
“I like where we are. Obviously still have a long way to go,” Kelly said Thursday. “Spring has presented opportunities for young guys to a bunch of reps with the first group and the second group. The guys have had a chance to mature and gain valuable reps.”
It also helps that TCU was able to re-sign Jordan Dwyer after he finished second on the team with 730 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior.
Each season Kelly has challenged his expected No. 1 option at receiver to live up to his potential. He did with Quentin Johnston, Savion Williams and McAlister last season. Now it’s Dwyer’s turn to make the leap in his final season.
“He came here with the mission of ‘I have two years of eligibility left,’” Kelly said. “I’m kind of gonna be here with Eric McAlister the first year, and then in the second year I could step into more of the dominant role and go out there and put the offense on my shoulders. But he’s gonna have to continue to work.”
TCU receivers have to block to play
Dwyer has been limited during the spring as he rehabs a foot injury that kept him out of TCU’s Alamo Bowl victory over USC in December.
While he hasn’t been able to do 7-on-7 or team drills, Dwyer has still been engaged during individual drills and is focusing on helping the younger wideouts.
“I’m just trying to show the younger guys the ropes,” Dwyer said. “When I was a younger guy, I had a bunch of vets who helped me out. I’m just making sure I’m available to those guys and giving them good information and doing the right things and showing the right things myself.”
Dwyer had no issue adjusting to the Power Four level after making the jump up from Idaho, and he’s excited to play in new offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis’ scheme.
“It’s a more pro style, more NFL-style offense. It’s my last year, and that’s where I’m trying to get to,” Dwyer said. “It’ll be great, that’s kind of what I was in before. It’s a little similar to my last school. We’re gonna run the ball, block really hard on the perimeter, and it’s going to be great. You’ll have to wait and see.”
Perimeter blocking is something the receivers have focused on with intention during the spring, with Sammis making it clear that if you don’t block, you won’t play.
While TCU is expected to lean more on the ground this year, Kelly was quick to point out that the Horned Frogs won’t be one-dimensional.
“I think when people think pro style, they think, hey, we’re just going to turn around and hand the ball off 75 times a game,” Kelly said. “When you look at [Sammis’] offense, yeah, they had 1,000-yard rushers, but they also had Skyler Bell, who was a finalist for the Biletnikoff [award for the nation’s top receiver]. So I think if we do what we’re supposed to on the edge and make people play honest, then you should get one-on-one opportunities that you want on the edge.”
Young wideouts eager to step up
Having Dwyer is a nice foundation to build around, and the Horned Frogs added Jeremy Scott from South Alabama in the transfer portal, though he has also missed time during the spring.
That’s allowed redshirt freshman Terry Shelton and redshirt sophomore Dozie Ezukanma to run most of the first-team reps, and both players have been among the clear standouts so far.
For Shelton, it’s been a night-and-day difference compared to when he went through spring camp last season.
“I feel like I’ve grown a tremendous amount, really with physicality and just fully knowing what I’m doing with the playbook,” he said. “I’m studying it more, taking it a lot more serious.”
Shelton used to struggle to deal with physical corners off the line, but now the 6-foot-4 wideout is using his size to his advantage and has already produced some of the top plays from the spring, including a one-handed catch.
The former Carrollton Ranchview standout is a more confident player, and getting extended reps in the Alamo Bowl helped him grow immensely. Shelton had two receptions for 27 yards against USC, including a 22-yard reception from Ken Seals.
“It built my confidence a lot. Making that catch from my quarterback boosted my confidence for sure,” Shelton said. “Coach [Sonny] Dykes and Coach Kelly talked to me before that game, just letting me know I was going to play more snaps, and it definitely skyrocketed my confidence.”
Ezukanma is another player who looks more confident than last season. The 6-3 receiver is a smooth route runner and is much more consistent on a play-by-play basis. He made two catches for 28 yards last season.
Ezukanma has formed a productive duo with Shelton during the first half of spring camp.
“It’s crazy, man, because I kind of had Dozie pegged to be what Eric McAlister was for us during the [2024] season,” Kelly said. “We had Savion, Jack [Bech] and John Paul [Richardson] who were the mainstay guys, and Eric came off the bench and ended up having a 700-yard season. I thought that was going to be what Dozie was going to be last year just based off his camp.
“It didn’t work out like that because he was behind Eric, and we never pulled him out of the game for obvious reasons. He’s taking the reps with the ones, going against the one defense, and he has stepped up every single day. Every single day he’s made big plays. His overall game is exactly where I thought it would be.”
Slot receivers Ed Small and Major Everhart and freshman wideout Ayson Theus also received high praise from Kelly as the Horned Frogs prepare to ramp up for the final stretch of spring ball.
Replacing McAlister will be tough, but TCU has plenty of options and a wide receiver coach with a proven track record of getting the most out of his unit.
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 1:47 PM.
