Breaking down Joey McGuire's first transfer portal class

Joey McGuire arrived as head coach at Texas Tech on November 8th, 2021, just a few weeks before the Early Signing Period. McGuire and his right-hand man James Blanchard immediately went to work on recruiting, taking a class ranked in the 80's all the way to a top 45 finish and it's only gone up from there.

Another area McGuire had to address was the immediate roster, and he did just that by bringing in several transfers during that off-season. Some of those transfers - ILB Jacob Rodriguez, WR Jordan Brown, OL Ty Buchanan, EDGE Sam Carrell and WR Brady Boyd - still have eligibility remaining, but the majority of the 2022 transfer portal class has now exhausted eligibility or transferred out.

How did the transfer portal class, McGuire's first in Lubbock, turn out? We take a look at each player and where they stand today.

Tyler Owens was a highly-regarded transfer out of Texas. While he didn't play much in Austin, he had the pedigree of being a high school All-American, a Rivals100 prospect who brought with him elite athleticism.

After spending most of 2022 rotating in as Reggie Pearson's backup, Owens earned the starting role as a senior.

Owens played in 10 games in 2023, starting 9 of them. He was credited with 37 tackles, 1 tackles-for-loss and 2 passes defended.

Owens participated in the Shrine Bowl and was one of three Red Raiders to earn an invite to the NFL Combine, where he will have a chance to impress scouts and coaches alike. Depending on how his off-season goes, Owens is a potential mid-to-late round NFL Draft pick.

Dimitri Moore played his high school football for Joey McGuire and ended his college career playing for the same man at Texas Tech.

Moore started his career at Vanderbilt where he excelled for 2.5 seasons before spending the 2021 season at Missouri State.

Moore had high hopes after landing at Texas Tech for his super senior season and while it never clicked all the way, he still had some important moments as a role player.

Moore played in 9 games at Texas Tech, totaling 127 defensive snaps. He was credited with 8 tackles and 1 sack.

Keyon Blankenbaker was a very interesting addition as a guy who played a lot and graded out well at Wyoming. He was a late add for Texas Tech, announcing his commitment on June 17th, about 2.5 months before the start of the season.

Unfortunately it just never really worked out for Blankenbaker in Lubbock, as he was a part of a stacked DB room and only played in 69 defensive snaps as a Red Raider, registering 2 tackles.

Myles Cole was a rotation guy at Louisiana-Monroe who had a few elite traits that made him a tantalizing add in the transfer portal. The 6-foot-6, 280 pound Cole is a guy who was capable of playing both inside and on the edge before making the move to outside linebacker full time for the 2023 season.

Taking over after the departure of 1st round pick Tyree Wilson, Cole started all 12 regular season games in 2023, playing 570 snaps.

His career totals in Lubbock were 44 tackles, 9 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 pass defended and 1 blocked kick.

Cole played in the Senior Bowl and was one of three Red Raiders invited to the NFL Combine. Look for him to possibly get selected in the middle-to-late rounds this April.

What was supposed to be a one-year addition, Cole Spencer was forced to miss the entire 2022 season due to injury. Nevertheless Spencer rehabbed and returned in 2023.

After starting the first five games of the 2023 season, Spencer suffered a foot injury which knocked him out until the Independence Bowl which he once again started.

In his college career Spencer played 3,571 snaps, with only 454 of those as a Red Raider.

Baylor Cupp was one of the top transfer portal additions for Texas Tech, formerly the No. 2 tight end in the country coming out of Brock HS.

Cupp spent three injury-riddled seasons at Texas A&M before deciding to take his talents out West.

He was a primary rotation guy in Lubbock, rotating in with Mason Tharp for the majority of the TE snaps. Cupp played 384 snaps in 2022 and 453 snaps in 2023, starting the final 8 games of his senior season.

His career totals don't jump off the page with 23 receptions for 246 yards and 4 touchdowns, but included in those statistics are some huge plays such as the game-winning touchdown @ Iowa State in 2022 or the two-score day he had @ Baylor in 2023.

Unlike some other names on this list, Jordan Brown came to Texas Tech under the radar as a walk-on. He followed Emmett Jones from Kansas, and immediately made an impact with his speed and special teams ability.

His biggest play in 2022 was a 67 yard kickoff return vs Oklahoma, and in 2023 he started seeing the field more as a wide receiver.

In the 2023 season he appeared in 10 games offensively, starting 4 of them. He played 306 snaps and put up 22 receptions for 256 yards and a touchdown. Look for Brown to continue rotating in multiple spots and contributing where he can.

Brown was officially put on scholarship in early December 2023.

Arguably the best player on Texas Tech's defense, Jacob Rodriguez is a guy the previous staff heavily recruited, lost out on, and transferred back home after a season at Virginia.

Rodriguez did not have the season he wanted to after suffering an injury in week 1, but he bounced back to play 4 games down the stretch including the Independence Bowl win. Rodriguez elected to sit out the regular season finale @ Texas which gives him two more seasons of eligibility moving forward.

Through two seasons in Lubbock Rodriguez has been credited with 61 tackles, 4 tackles-for-loss, 1 interception, 3 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery in just 402 defensive snaps.

Brady Boyd is another interesting situation of a guy who played right away at Minnesota as a true freshman, played even more at Texas Tech as a sophomore, but elected to redshirt in 2023 only playing in the final three games. He still has two more seasons of eligibility.

Boyd is a versatile wideout who can play both inside and out. He's put up 18 receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown in his brief Texas Tech career.

Like the aforementioned Rodriguez, Ty Buchanan was highly-recruited by the former Texas Tech staff who lost him in a recruiting battle. After a season at USC, Buchanan elected to come back to his home state where the Red Raiders were glad to have him.

Through two seasons in Lubbock, Buchanan has been a primary backup and part-time starter. He started the game at TCU in 2022 and started the Independence Bowl win in 2023.

He's a guy who has proven capable of playing either tackle spot or even inside at guard. Look for him to be one of the primary candidates to start on the offensive line this season.

Coming out of HS Sam Carrell was actually going to sign with Baylor. A late change in his recruitment led to a decommitment, but this is a guy that the McGuire/Blanchard brain trust has been all over going back years.

After a year at Washington State, Carrell transferred to Texas Tech where he has played 15 snaps over two seasons.

Carrell does have a lot of potential, but the Red Raiders are deep at the outside linebacker spot. It'll be interesting to see if Carrell can crack the rotation more than he has to date.

A New Mexico transfer who left Lubbock after playing only 18 snaps at Texas Tech, Cade Briggs took his talents to the desert after the 2022 season where he played 442 snaps and started 5 games as a Sun Devil in 2023.

Coming from FCS Tennessee-Martin, Michael Shanahan played 9 snaps as a Red Raider. He ended up at Western Michigan where he played 609 snaps over 11 starts in 2023.

Texas Tech's starting right tackle in 2022 and starting left tackle in 2023, Monroe Mills will continue to protect quarterback Tyler Shough at Louisville moving forward.