Hello Celebritys

Gary Patterson has a monster on his hands at the running back position and in less than ten days, it will be unleashed. Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley have both been named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List for this upcoming season. The Frogs are one of only five schools to have more than one player on the list. When you add in Waymon James and Aundre Dean also, that creates a nightmare for opposing teams.

From TCU Media Relations:

TCU's Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley have been named to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, presented to the nation's top running back.

Tucker and Wesley ranked second and third, respectively, on TCU in rushing as freshmen last season. Tucker ran for 676 yards and eight touchdowns on a 6.4 per carry mark, while Wesley totaled 638 yards and four scores with a 6.3 average per rush.

Tucker had the fifth-most single season rushing yards by a TCU freshman, while Wesley's total was sixth.

A Tyler, Texas, native, Tucker was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year by Sporting News. Wesley, from Irving, Texas, was an honorable-mention All-MWC selection.

It will be interesting to see how Coach Patterson incorporates all the backs this season. I expect Tucker and Wesley to get the large majority of the action, but Aundre Dean and Waymon James have showed that they can push for playing time also. It is a problem that Patterson and the offensive coordinators are going to have to figure out, but it’s a good problem to have.

TCU will be missing a senior leader on the offensive side of the ball when they take the field this season. Starting running back Joseph Turner graduated this past year leaving a hole in the backfield. It doesn’t appear that it’s going to be a problem though. Lindy's 2010 College Football Preview ranks TCU as having the nation's fifth-best offensive backfield

From TCU Media Relations:

The TCU offense is led by four-year starter Andy Dalton, the nation's leader in wins (29) by an active quarterback. Dalton's 29 victories also tie him with Slingin' Sammy Baugh (1934-36) for the most in TCU history.

Also returning to the TCU backfield this season are sophomores Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley who rushed for 676 and 638 yards, respectively, as freshmen in 2009. The TCU ground game will also be bolstered by Aundre Dean, Waymon James and Dwight Smith.

Dean, who sat out last season per NCAA transfer rules, was a prep teammate of Dalton at Katy High School. Dean was a Parade All-American and ranked as the sixth-best running back in the nation coming out of high school.

James, who redshirted last season, was rated by Rivals.com as the second-best running back in Texas and the 10th-best back in the nation out of Sherman High School.

Smith was the Texas 3A Player of the Year after rushing for a Carthage High School record 2,820 yards and 43 touchdowns his senior season.

We know that Andy Dalton will produce greatness, but I am interested to see what this group of running backs is going to do. That is a deep stable of talented players and I know it has to be tough trying to get all of them on the field. Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley will continue to do what they do, but I think we could see an outstanding season from Aundre Dean.

Everyone including myself is high on Dwight Smith, but I just don’t know how much we will see him this year. He is a freshman coming off an injury in the spring game so I would expect them to be very cautious.

Now that the excitement that was TCU Baseball is over, and the World Cup winding down, my anxiety for Frog football continues to build by the day and September 4th can’t get here quick enough!

Lindy's Top 10 Offensive Backfields
1. Alabama
2. Virginia Tech
3. Texas A&M
4. Ohio State
5. TCU
6. Houston
7. Arkansas
8. Washington
9. Oklahoma
10. Nevada