What Are QB Kenny Hill's Chances of Starting at TCU in 2016?

Has TCU found its successor to Trevone Boykin? Former Texas A&M starting quarterback Kenny Hill certainly hopes so. 

Hill confirmed with Travis Brown of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram what had been speculated for months: that he would be transferring to the Horned Frogs. Hill told Brown that he will enroll on June 1 ("two Mondays from now" he said to Brown). He will sit out the 2015 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules and have two years of eligibility remaining in 2016.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

That would seem to perfectly set up his own run at the starting quarterback spot since Boykin will be a redshirt senior this season. Will it work out that smoothly? We'll find out in a year or so, but Hill will have the time to learn and the resources available to be successful. 

Put another way, you have to like Hill's chances of earning the starting job next year. He'll be in the right environment to succeed, it'll be a matter of whether he wants to or not. 

It starts with the fact that he'll be under the guidance of co-offensive coordinators Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham. It's been well-documented what both of those guys have done for the Frogs offensively. In 2013, TCU ranked at or near the bottom of the Big 12 in every major statistical offensive category. Last season, the first with Cumbie and Meacham, TCU averaged nearly 200 more yards per game and 21 more points per game. Only Baylor had more points per game nationally (48.2 to 46.5). 

The improvement was visible across all positions, but the most dramatic difference was with Boykin. This was a guy who seemed bound for a position change. Under Cumbie's guidance, however, he morphed into a one-man offensive show, accounting for 354.5 yards per game—best in the Big 12—and 42 total touchdowns. 

The best part is, as Chris Brown of Grantland notes, Boykin can be even better this year: 

Hill is a big-time talent and further along as a passer now than Boykin was at the end of the 2013 season. The A&M transfer will have the benefit of learning under Cumbie and Meacham for a year without having to worry about game action. It's his "internship" so to speak. Assuming no one scoops up Cumbie and/or Meacham in the next two years for a head coaching gig—that could be a big assumption—Hill could have as many as three years as their pupil. 

Of course, three other quarterbacks—Grayson Muehlstein, Foster Sawyer and Zach Allen—are being coached by Cumbie as well. The difference is Hill has starting experience in an Air Raid-based offense under his belt. Unless Boykin gets hurt and someone successfully steps in to replace him, the quarterback competition should be wide-open in '16.  

Everything sets up advantageously for Hill, but there's also a certain amount of responsibility that falls on him as well. Hill got off to a hot start last season by throwing for more than 500 yards in the season opener against South Carolina.

However, things began going south five games later in a loss to Mississippi State in which he threw three interceptions. Two games later in a shutout loss to Alabama, Hill was benched in favor of freshman Kyle Allen. Shortly thereafter, he was suspended two games for violating team rules. He was also hit with a misdemeanor public intoxication charge in March of 2014. 

Those are learning experiences for Hill. A change of scenery can sometimes be just what a player needs to start over. In his first season, he won't have to worry about playing, only about understanding the playbook, developing chemistry with new teammates and getting better. Nothing will be rushed. 

Hill isn't guaranteed the starting job in 2016. Head coach Gary Patterson just doesn't work that way. Plus, there's not an immediate need at quarterback. Hill will have the chance to come in and compete for the job in 2016. If he does all the right things, he has the talent to take the field in purple next year. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.