Former Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig is set to be the starter at TCU.

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TCU football is in quite a unique situation entering the 2026-27 season. The reason why?

The Horned Frogs brought in former All-Ivy League First Team quarterback Jaden Craig from Harvard to lead their offense in the fifth season of the Sonny Dykes era. Craig was productive as one could be at the college level during two of his three seasons with the Crimson, but he’s stepping up to a level now that he’s never played at. 

Craig logged 2,869 passing yards and 25 touchdowns, along with seven interceptions, during his junior season. He completed 61.5 percent of his 338 passing attempts, as well. He logged 78 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground to add to that. 

This led to Craig recording a 6.22 BiteScore as a junior for Harvard. 

He had a similar stat line during his first season as Harvard’s starter, throwing two fewer touchdowns and four fewer interceptions. Craig is bringing savvy passing ability to Fort Worth in an attempt to fill the shoes of Josh Hoover, who made a transfer move to Indiana during the same offseason. 

Working alongside Craig in the offense will be running back Jeremy Payne, who led the Horned Frogs in rushing yards last season with 623. Jon Denman, who rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns last season, is also returning. 

Jordan Dwyer, who threw down 730 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season, will serve as TCU’s leading pass-catcher. It also brought in Jeremy Scott from South Alabama, who recorded 417 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman last year. 

Safety Jamel Johnson is the best returning player on the defense, logging 96 tackles, five interceptions and three passes defended last season. Safety Kylin Jackson is the team’s returning sack leader wth 2.5, followed by defensive end Paul Oyewale and defensive tackle Ansel Din-Mbuh with two apiece. 

The Horned Frogs didn’t exactly load up with new defensive talent in the transfer portal like other teams in the conference. They’ll be leaning on a massive group of returners to lead the way, a strategy not all teams in college football are following. 

Seven or eight wins should be a realistic ceiling for Dykes’ squad this season, depending on how Craig and the offense mesh together, along with the maturity of the defense. Games against BYU, Utah and Texas Tech will be a challenge, but the middle of their schedule doesn’t look all that hard.

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