Jeremy Payne enters 2026 as TCU’s RB1, but Gordon Sammis must prove the Horned Frogs are ready to build the offense around him.
TCU football may have found its next real workhorse in Jeremy Payne. Now the Horned Frogs have to do the uncomfortable part: actually feed him like one.
Payne’s 2025 breakout wasn’t some late-season mirage. It was the clearest offensive spark TCU had down the stretch, and TCU on SI wrote that it could completely reshape how new offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis builds the 2026 attack.
The sophomore running back finished with 623 rushing yards, five touchdowns and a strong 5.7 yards per carry on just 110 attempts. That’s the problem and the promise packed into one stat line.
Payne was explosive enough to matter. He just didn’t get the ball enough to take over.
The Cincinnati game showed what happens when TCU lets him breathe. Payne hammered out 174 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, giving the Horned Frogs their best individual rushing performance since Kendre Miller in 2021.
Then came the Alamo Bowl moment everyone remembers: Payne fighting through traffic for the overtime game-winner against ranked USC.
That’s not a gadget player. That’s RB1 material.
But 2026 will come down to usage, not hype. TCU can call Payne the starter all it wants, but if he’s sitting around 11 or 12 carries a game, he’s still just a committee back with better branding. The real number is closer to 18.
That’s when defenses start adjusting. That’s when linebackers get tired. That’s when play-action gets nasty. That’s when a running back becomes the spine of an offense.
Last season, TCU averaged only 3.9 yards per carry as a team, barely above its 2024 mark of 3.7. Payne looked like the one back capable of dragging that number upward, but he was still sharing touches with Trent Battle, Nate Palmer and Jon Denman.
That’s where Sammis becomes the wild card. He arrives from UConn with a run-game reputation, and his offenses leaned into physicality, angles and leverage up front.
That sounds tailor-made for Payne, who runs bigger than his frame and finishes with the kind of edge Sonny Dykes clearly values.
The Horned Frogs don’t need to reinvent themselves completely. They just need to stop overthinking the obvious.
If Jeremy Payne is getting 15 to 18 carries every Saturday, TCU’s offense has a new identity. If he’s stuck near 12, the Horned Frogs are wasting their best answer.
