TCU Drug Bust: What It Means from a Football Standpoint

The college football regular season has come to an end, and this is normally the time when scandals begin to take place. The most recent one comes from the TCU program where 17 students were arrested on drug charges. Four of the students happened to play on the Horned Frogs football team.

Fort Worth police began this investigation about six months ago, with help from TCU police on campus. Although there have been several arrests already, the investigation will continue to take place and more arrests may be made.

What This Means From a Football Standpoint

The football players who were arrested are linebacker Tanner Brock, safety Devin Johnson, defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey and offensive tackle Tyler Horn. Brock and Yendrey are by far the biggest players in this scandal as they have made serious contributions on the football field.

Brock did get hurt in the season opener last year and ended up missing the rest of the season after having surgery on his foot. In 2010 he was a third-team all-American and led the entire team with 106 total tackles, and he also had two sacks and an interception. Without question, if he were healthy heading into this year, he would have been the starting linebacker for the Horned Frogs.

Yendrey was going to be the starting defensive tackle for this team next season. Last year he finished the year with 39 tackles, 5.5 tackles-for-loss and three sacks in 13 games. For a team that struggled to pressure the quarterback last year, the loss of a quality lineman is the last thing this defensive line needed.

Johnson would have likely been the starting strong safety, and Horn would have likely started at right tackle. Both the secondary and the offensive line are areas of concern as well, which makes these arrests even more devastating to this program.

What Happens Next?

Besides the NCAA getting involved, the Horned Frogs have plenty of holes they have to fill on this football team. The offensive line is extremely thin and just got a bit thinner with Horn likely off the team for good. The secondary allowed 220 yards in the air last season and are now losing a senior safety, which can't be good. Players like Sam Carter and Trent Thomas will likely battle it out for the starting position in the secondary.

At the linebacker position, Kenny Cain will remain in his starting role. He took over when Brock was injured and ended up leading the team in tackles with 72 and had one interception.

Heading into their new home in the Big 12, this isn't the right way to start things off. There will likely be serious consequences handed down by the NCAA, and for a young team that had so many promising players, this leaves them with a lot of question marks heading into the spring.  

Randy Chambers is a B/R featured columnist that covers college football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail].