We’re still months away from the season and, thus, there’s nothing requiring TCU to release a depth chart at this time and certainly nothing requiring the Horned Frogs to name a starting quarterback on said depth chart.
But, still, the Frogs did release a depth chart, but they did not name a starting quarterback. Or, perhaps, they named four.
The depth chart shines a light on what will be perhaps the most interesting quarterback conundrum in college football this season. Following Shawn Robinson‘s transfer to Missouri, five claimants to the throne remain, each of them wildly different from the last.
The first name listed is Alex Delton, a graduate transfer from Kansas State by way of UTEP. A dual-threat who’s really more of a single-threat, Delton threw all of 80 passes last season, completing 44 for 554 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Next, there’s Mike Collins, a transfer from Penn who started the 2018 campaign as Robinson’s backup but eventually replaced him. The rising junior’s numbers weren’t spectacular, either -- 79-of-140 for 1,059 yards with six touchdowns against two interceptions. Collins is not the running threat Delton is, but he still managed to average 2.92 yards on 38 carries.
Listed third is Justin Rogers, perhaps the most physically gifted of the group but certainly the most rusty. Rogers has played in only one game over the past two seasons, as injury shortened his senior year at Parkway High School in Bossier City, La., and TCU redshirted him last year. When he was healthy, way back in 2016, Rogers completed 65.4 percent of his throws for 2,646 yards and 26 touchdowns, ran for 566 yards and nine scores and led Parkway to an 11-2 record. Translate that to the Big 12 level and you may have your starter.
Finally, there’s Max Duggan, a true freshman who passed for 2,100 yards and rushed for 1,200 more last season as the quarterback at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Can he leapfrog (get it?) four more experienced players to win the job in his first year on campus?
Not listed is perhaps the most interesting candidate of all: Matthew Baldwin. The Austin native spent his freshman season at Ohio State but elected to transfer rather than spend his career as Justin Fields‘s backup, and is reportedly appealing for immediate eligibility.
Sure there’s a big baseball game tonight, but we’ve got a relatively fresh post-spring football depth chart to check out until first pitch! pic.twitter.com/uu6SvKYPWB
— Billy Wessels (@BillyWessels) May 31, 2019
Moving off the quarterback position, TCU lists Sewo Olonilua as its starting running back despite his arrest on felony drug charges two weeks before this depth chart was released. Behind him, the Frogs have fellow senior Darius Anderson, TCU’s second-leading rusher a year ago, listed behind junior Emari Demarcado.