TCU’s big upset of Texas on Saturday may have proven to be extra costly to the Horned Frogs longterm this season.
According to a report from Pro Football Network, offensive tackle Lucas Niang will undergo a season-ending surgery in the coming days to repair a torn hip labrum. He apparently saw a specialist earlier in the week but still decided to play against the Longhorns prior to going under the knife.
The news is a massive blow to the TCU offense, which put together their best performance of the season against UT in Fort Worth behind freshman QB Max Duggan. Niang has manned the right tackle slot the past several years and was expected to be one of the top offensive linemen taken in the first few days of the NFL Draft this coming spring.
Pro Football Network says that recovery time is roughly 3-4 months which means Niang’s career in purple is over as this was his senior campaign.
True freshman Andrew Coker appears destined to seeing more time as a result of Niang’s absence unless either left tackle Quazzel White or Anthony McKinney gets flipped to the other side. Either way, it’s a tough ending to one of TCU’s best players in recent years and puts a bit of a damper on that win over their in-state rivals on Saturday.