Jeremy Payne returns as TCU’s lead back after a breakout 2025 season, but the Horned Frogs’ rebuilt backfield has plenty to prove.
FORT WORTH - TCU football has a new offensive identity forming, and as SBNation wrote, Jeremy Payne is standing right in the middle of it.
The Horned Frogs’ junior running back returns after delivering one of the loudest moments of the 2025 season ... a game-winning touchdown against USC in the Alamo Bowl.
Payne caught a check-down from backup quarterback Ken Seals, slipped through chaos, embarrassed Trojan defenders in space and turned a simple throw into a season-ending dagger.
Now comes the bigger challenge. He has to become the guy every week.
Payne enters 2026 as TCU’s clear lead back after rushing for 623 yards and five touchdowns last season while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
He also showed real burst, finishing with six runs of at least 15 yards despite missing two games with an injury.
That matters for a TCU offense that needs more consistency on the ground after leaning too often on flashes instead of force.
His receiving ability makes him even more valuable. Across two seasons, Payne has caught 34 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns, giving new offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis a movable weapon instead of a one-dimensional runner.
But the backfield behind Payne looks very different.
TCU lost Nate Palmer and Derrick Carroll to the transfer portal. Kevorian Barnes and Trent Battle are gone after giving the Horned Frogs important snaps in 2025.
Barnes finished with 443 rushing yards and three touchdowns despite battling injury, while Battle delivered 349 yards and six scores in the best season of his career.
That leaves opportunity — and pressure.
Jon Denman brings short-yardage toughness after rushing for 178 yards and three touchdowns as a true freshman. Landon Walker, a Division II transfer from Colorado School of Mines, adds size at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds.
Walker’s resume is sneaky impressive, with 34 career touchdowns, a 6.51 yards-per-carry average and two All-RMAC selections before arriving in Fort Worth.
The coaching changes could help unlock it all. New running backs coach Antonio Wilcox helped develop Cam Edwards into a 1,000-yard rusher at UConn, while Sammis helped build a Huskies offense that ran for 2,590 yards in 2024.
For TCU, the formula is obvious. Payne brings the juice. Walker brings the muscle. Denman brings the dirty-yardage profile.
Now the Horned Frogs need that mix to become a real ground game, not just a highlight reel.
