2024 TCU Football Preview: Cornerbacks

Avery Helm and Utah transfer JaTravis Broughton highlight the Horned Frogs on the outside.

The TCU football team has seen its top cornerbacks enter the NFL over the last two seasons. After the Los Angeles Rams selected Jim Thorpe Award winner Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals picked defensive back Josh Newton in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. As the Horned Frogs prepare for their 2024 season opener against Stanford on Aug. 30, TCU will look to its returning veterans as well as a crop of newcomers from the transfer portal to anchor the perimeter of its new defense.

Among the leading returners in the secondary is redshirt senior Avery Helm, who comes back for his fifth collegiate season and his second with the Horned Frogs. Helm operated as TCU’s No. 2 cornerback throughout the 2023 campaign, starting 11 games and recording 22 total tackles, five pass breakups, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble. Helm has been taking first-team reps during practice and is a candidate for stepping into the No. 1 role.

Also back for his second season with the Horned Frogs is former junior college standout and four-star recruit Channing Canada. Now a junior, Canada appeared in all 12 games last season, totaling 20 tackles and one sack. TCU is seeking to fill several shoes in the secondary, as the Horned Frogs lost multiple corners including Mason White, Jaionte McMillan, Champ Lewis, Rohan Fluellen and Andre Seldon Jr. to the transfer portal.

TCU was active in the transfer portal over the offseason, signing several new corners including Utah’s JaTravis Broughton, who arrives in Fort Worth with more experience than any of the other incoming transfers. Broughton appeared in 47 games with 29 starts as a member of the Utes, compiling 126 total tackles, 11 pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery. Broughton was an All-Pac 12 honoree with the Utes in 2020.

Also arriving through the transfer portal are Austin Peay’s Jevon McIver Jr. and Old Dominion’s LaMareon James. James was named an All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention during the 2023 season, where he started all 13 games at cornerback and handled kick return duties. James recorded 59 total tackles and recovered four fumbles with two interceptions. McIver Jr. was an All-UAC First Teamer in 2023 and concluded his time at Austin Peay with 61 total tackles, 12 pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble.

Sophomore Vernon Glover is back for his second season with TCU. The Horned Frogs welcome in two freshmen from the 2024 recruiting class in Devondre McGee and Julian Knox. Glover appeared in 10 games last season, totaling five tackles.