The 2024 college football season presents an entirely new landscape. Texas is in the SEC. SMU is back in a power conference as ACC members. The College Football Playoff now includes 12 teams and an automatic bid for the best G5 team in the land. For most, the start of the season is in Week 1 on August 30, though SMU starts in Week 0 and TCU plays its first game on Aug. 29. 

To celebrate us making it through another off-season, we’re counting down the 50 most important players in Texas as we inch closer to kickoffs. This list isn’t necessarily about which players are the best in terms of NFL draft stock. It ranks players in order of importance to their team's success. 

NO. 18: TCU LB NAMDI OBIAZOR 

The history: Obiazor is a Minnesota native who began his college career at Iowa Western Community College where he became a First-Team All-American in the JUCO ranks in 2021. He arrived in Fort Worth as a sophomore in 2022 and played in all 15 games for the Frogs as they marched to the national championship game. Obiazor started twice and finished eighth on the team with 49 tackles. He transitioned from safety to linebacker ahead of 2023 and led TCU with 84 tackles and four sacks. He was second on the team with six quarterback hurries and third with six tackles for loss. He started all 12 games.  

The skillset: Obiazor is an athletic linebacker thanks to his background as a safety. He’s kept that quickness and open-field ability while adding weight to his 6-foot-3 frame. He excelled as an outside linebacker under Joe Gillespie last season. He’ll transition to a more traditional middle linebacker spot with new defensive coordinator Andy Avalos calling the defense. Obiazor is a reliable tackler who can cover in space, but he’s also adept as a pass rusher. 

The impact: The second level of the TCU defense should be the strength of the unit, maybe even the entire team. That starts with Obiazor, who is now a captain and one of the clear leaders on the defensive side of the football. TCU lacked that leadership at linebacker last year because Dee Winters graduated and Johnny Hodges was injured early in the season. Now with skins on the wall, Obiazor can be an on-field general for the Frogs. He’ll be flanked by Hodges, Kaleb Elams-Orr, and Shad Banks Jr.