The transfer portal officially opened up on January 2nd and with the weekend of players having had the opportunity to visit, the portal madness is underway. Let’s go.
|
Staking The Plains Links
|
1. Please note the new box to the right. I feel that I’ve done a pretty admirable job of running the site and sometimes I don’t feel that I promote the fact that you can buy me a coffee at any point. I typically do the fundraising in the spring when things are more quiet than they are now which is counterintuitive to asking if you’d ever like to help. Regardless, I do think there’s no problem in letting you know that you don’t just have to give once a year. I’ve always said that giving is optional so there’s no pressure.
2. You’ll also note the link to the new Staking The Plains Running Club. As I am sure most of you are aware, I spend a lot of time running, that’s usually what I’m doing after I hit “Post” early in the morning. I also sort of lied when I said that I was off of social media because I am on Strava. I don’t know if Strava counts as social media, but I am on Strava more than any other social media. I thought it would be fun to see if there are other members of STP who are also on Strava and my hope is that at some point, we can have group runs once a month or maybe we are just encouraging each other. I generally find that’s what I end up doing, giving kudos to those who are hitting the road or the treadmill. And as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter where you live. If you’re in Lubbock and you end up finding a running friend that’s also in Lubbock then that’s great. If I’m traveling to a game and put out the bat-signal that I’d love to do a group run, hopefully that’s a thing we can do as well. This may end up being nothing or it may be something.
3. How far has this program traveled in just one year? I mean, think about what the expectations were for this team a year ago. The people in charge wanted something more and tried to propel this team to a national championship through some selective transfer portal additions and Texas Tech was part of the final eight. It was clear that Oregon was a better team, but building a national contending program takes time, lots of time it takes more than a year. I feel a bit spoiled in that Texas Tech has come this far in just one year, think what happens when the James Blanchard and Brian Nance have a full year under their belts and refining what they’ve previously done. I’m guessing that your expectations should continue to be where they are and even higher because the people who are in charge have similar expectations and want to bring a championship to Lubbock.
4. In looking back, I think that the biggest areas of need are as follows (this is my list and your mileage may vary):
1) Offensive line: For me, it was pretty clear that Texas Tech could not handle that athletic Oregon defensive line and that’s even after having to face it every day during practice. The athleticism and power were the biggest issues for me, I think this team needs more of it.
2) Quarterback: Behren Morton is graduating and it is an obvious need if this team want to be back in the CFP.
3) Defensive Tackle: Lee Hunter was an absolute force and Skyler Gill-Howard was until he was hurt, with AJ Holmes filling in at the same level as Hunter and Gill-Howard. Still, this team needs two tackles.
4) Defensive End: Obviously with David Bailey and Romello Height graduating that Texas Tech needs some depth here.
5) Linebacker: I like Brock Gowlas, but he’s not the athlete that I think you need to play at the level that Texas Tech wants to play. He would be fine in most circumstances and I would expect him to play a bit, but I don’t think he’s close to level of athlete that you need there.
6) Maybe Wide Receiver: I think the receivers are generally in pretty good shape, but a lot of depth has decided to hit the portal so it’s the seniors and the group of freshman from this year. As I try to continue to understand football, I wonder if the issues passing the ball against Oregon were on Morton or on the receivers for not getting open or on the offensive line for not giving everyone enough time. I am sure it is combination of all three things.
5. How do you sell to freshmen that you are a program that will develop and eventually play you? I know that you all know that I’m not going to keep track of who all is going and coming because it’s chore and it’s a lot. A lot. I don’t have that kind of time. But the thought still remains, a lot of the players who are transferring out are players who are looking for playing time and that’s absolutely okay. These guys have a limited amount of time to play football so they should absolutely try to go play somewhere. At some point, you have to develop those players who commit to your program otherwise I don’t see this working all that well.
6. What’s happening now? I use two things to sort of keep track of this stuff, but to be honest, it feels like a lot and these pages aren’t always up to date. But it’s free, so there’s that:
7. We know the following Texas Tech players have said that they will return:
- LT Howard Sampson
- TE Terrance Carter, Jr.
8. Who is predicted to join Texas Tech (this is via the On3 link above)?
- COMMITTED Alabama State IR Jalen Jones (5-9/175)
- UTSA CB Davin Martin (6-2/165)
- COMMITTED Kansas State LB Austin Romaine (6-2/232)
- Oklahoma State DE Wendell Gregory (6-3/220)
- Wake Forest DL Mateen Ibirogba (6-4/290)
- San Diego DE Trey White (6-2/255)
- COMMITTED Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby (6-3/235)
- COMMITTED Liberty WR Donte Lee, Jr.(6-3/185)
- COMMITTED Akron DL Julien Laventure (6-1/270)
9. It’s really important for you to remember that predictions are a dime a dozen, so don’t read too much into it until it actually happens, which is usually noted by the Red Raider Club on X/Twitter.
10. How about a bit more detail on the players who have committed:
1) Liberty wide receiver Donte Lee, Jr. caught 32 passes for 589 yards and 5 touchdowns. Lee never caught more than 6 passes in any one game and never eclipsed 92 yards. Lee is a deep threat, averaging 18.4 yards per reception.
2) Kansas State linebacker Austin Romaine registered 66 tackles this past year, just 0.5 sack, but did manage 7 tackles for a loss, 2 passes broken up, 6 quarterback hurries and an interception. Romaine has been a highly productive player for the Wildcats for the past 3 years. Romaine is probably here to fill the void from Jacob Rodriguez move to the NFL.
3) Alabama State receiver Jalen Jones caught 51 for 1,167 yards, averaging nearly 23 yards a reception with 9 touchdowns. Jones had games of 174, 118, 156, 148, and 189 yards receiver so he can, as the kids say, “go off”.
4) Akron defensive lineman Julien Laventure had 45 tackles on the year, 10.5 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 6 quarterback hurries and 1 forced fumble. He’s listed at 270, which seems a bit small given we’ve seen Lee Hunter, A.J. Holmes and Skyler Gill-Howard for the past year. The staff is big on production over some things.
5) Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw for 2,800 yards, completing 62% of his passes, 8.3 yards per attempt, 27 touchdowns, and 5 picks, which is about 233 yards passing a game and a quarterback rating of 155. Sorsby is also pretty mobile, carrying the ball 100 times for 5.8 yards a pop and 9 touchdowns. He’s a legitimate threat to run the ball. If you are thinking about comparing him to Behren Morton, they were basically the same passing, but Sorsby is a better runner. Morton completed 66% of his passes for 2,780 yards, 8.4 yards per attempt, 22 touchdowns, 6 picks, 232 yards passing a game and a rating of 155. Morton ran for -113 yards, which includes sacks, as does Sorsby’s. Sorsby was maybe the biggest jewel of the portal class. He left Lubbock to take a visit to LSU and then made the commitment last night.