TCU Football: Will Horned Frogs be pretenders or contenders in 2021?

TCU hopes to return to top defense in the Big 12

TCU had the Big 12’s top-ranked defense three years in a row, but they fell short of expectations last season. They are going to have to replace some talented players, but it should be expected that the Horned Frogs get back to normal on defense.

For the first half of the season, one of TCU’s biggest problems was that they could not rush the quarterback. They did that much better in the final six games and went 5-1. TCU’s leading pass rusher is back in Ochaun Mathis (nine sacks) and he will be joined by Khari Coleman on the edge and Terrell Cooper and Corey Bethley on the interior. This is one of the better defensive lines in the conference.

At linebacker, TCU is going to have to replace Garrett Wallow, who was the Horned Frogs’ top linebacker and leading tackler last season. Dee Winters is now the top linebacker and he had 65 tackles and two sacks last season. Look for Jamoi Hodge to be the other guy starting alongside Winters for this defense.

The secondary is going to have to replace two of the best safeties in college football in Trevon Moehrig and Ar’Darius Washington. TCU has been churning out good defensive backs for a long time now and I don’t expect that to stop, even with losing those players. Memphis safety transfer TJ Carter is expected to be an instant contributor and he will be alongside La’Kendrick Van Zandt and Deshawn McCuin at safety.

At cornerback, TCU has the Big 12 leader in pass breakups in Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson on one side and Noah Daniels on the other.