Thursday, May 19, 2011

Will TCU QB Casey Pachall Become Another Andy Dalton?

With quarterback Andy Dalton moving on, the TCU Horned Frogs will need to move on as well with life after their star quarterback. But they may not have to wait long to see yet another star emerge.

Casey Pachall Back-up quarterback Casey Pachall #4 of the TCU Horned Frogs passes against the University of New Mexico Lobos on November 27, 2010 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. TCU won 66-17.
Eric Draper/Getty Images
Casey Pachall, a four-star recruit out of Brownwood High School in Brownwood, Texas, is the most likely candidate to take over the starting quarterback position and make his own mark on the TCU football program.

Coming out of high school, Pachall was recruited not only by TCU but also by the likes of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Florida just to name a few. The fact that he picked TCU should show the kind of belief this young quarterback had in this program and where it was going.

Sitting behind Dalton, Pachall knew he was just going to need to be patient and wait for his time to come. He did get to play sparingly in "mop up" time against New Mexico late in the season. A game the Horned Frogs would go on to win in blowout fashion, 66-14.

Pachall would four of his six pass attempts in that game for 54 yards and a touchdown, also adding 22 rushing yards on five carries and a score.

While Dalton might have been the winningest quarterback in school history, Pachall has the ability to put up similar or better numbers if he does stay for two years as as starter.

He is not your prototypical pocket passers. Pachall pull it down and take off with more speed than Dalton brought to the position. He has great arm strength and the ability to thread the needle when needed. Pachall will force defenses to stay honest when he is either under center or from the shotgun position.

Pachall will being a whole new dynamic to the TCU offense, one that hasn't been seen for quite some time.  You can not expect a first year starter to come in and duplicate what Dalton did for this football program. But there is absolutely no doubt that Pachall has the ability to bring his own style to the offense and make this team look much different offensively than it did last season.

He is going to have his first year problems and jitters when he's out on the field, but once he gets comfortable in the offense and with his teammates, this young man might be a hard one to stop.


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