TCU Football: DT Blacklock out for the season

As if the football season in the state of Texas isn’t competitive enough, now TCU football will play the 2018 season without one of their best defensive tackles.

TCU defensive tackle, a star defensive lineman for the squad, will be out all season now due to an Achilles tendon injury. Ross Blacklock was hurt during a drill during team practice on Tuesday and the prognosis came soon afterward.

According to 247 Sports, he was the No. 22 overall player in Texas and the No. 139 overall player in the nation.  He picked TCU over a myriad of marquee programs, including Alabama. In 2016, Blacklock was one of the nation’s top defensive tackle recruits. He was rated a four-star and was ranked number 18 among defensive tackles.

Blacklock is a beast–he stands 6-foot-4 and weighs a beefy 330-pounds. He would have been the starting nose tackle for the Horned Frogs, particularly after his awesome freshman season. He has already won several awards; in 2017, Blacklock won the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. He was also named as an All-American that same year.

Last year, he had 27 tackles, with 6.5 for a loss. He started in all 14 games last season. Losing that level of production won’t be easy for the Horned Frogs to overcome.

Blacklock had two sacks and led the Horned Frogs to amass one of the best defenses in the Big 12. They led the conference in most defensive categories, including scoring defense, sacks, pass defense, and run defense. Blacklock ended the season with a bang–he had two tackles for loss in the Alamo Bowl.

Needless to say, Blacklock’s absence will leave a massive hole in the TCU defensive line.