Five TTU underclassmen who could be future stars
Texas Tech announced the 2021 spring football schedule yesterday, which starts with practice on March 15th and concludes with the spring game on April 17th.
Red Raider fans will be most excited to see what happens at quarterback - can one of the three freshman on the roster (Maverick McIvor, Donovan Smith or Behren Morton) step up and take control of the position?
Other than quarterback, there is a lot of talent up and down the roster. Guys who are stars today such as Erik Ezukanma, Riko Jeffers and SaRodorick Thompson, had to wait their turn before being given the opportunity to perform at the highest level of college football.
Who are the stars of tomorrow on the Texas Tech roster? There are several candidates, and we take a look at a few below.
As a recruit: Price initially committed to Oklahoma State on June 14th, 2019. That commitment lasted about a week as he would take an official visit to Texas Tech on June 21st. A few months later, Price committed to TTU and remained solid throughout.
In addition he also held offers from Arizona State, Boston College, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Purdue, TCU, Utah and Washington State among others.
At TTU: Price had a solid freshman season, totaling 300 receiving yards, 124 rushing yards and scoring two touchdowns. Per PFF, Price played 347 offensive snaps and finished with a season grade of 65.6.
As a recruit: Wilson initially committed to Texas A&M in the summer before his senior season. Before signing day, he did take an official visit to Arkansas, but decided to stay with his initial decision.
In addition to those two programs, Wilson also held offers from Baylor, Florida, Kansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas and Washington State among others.
Following his redshirt freshman season, Wilson entered the transfer portal and chose to transfer to Texas Tech.
At TTU: Wilson's performance was inconsistent in 2020 - which is fair to him, considering he showed up a couple weeks before the season - but he showed major flashes of becoming a very good player.
Wilson finished the season with 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, but he was also third on the team in total pressures and hurries, with 19 and 15 respectively. Per PFF he played 388 snaps, finishing with a season grade of 52.3.
As a recruit: Fouonji was a highly recruited prospect who Texas Tech was in on first, offering way back in February 2018. Despite there being a change in coaching staff, Tech being early paid off at the end when he decided to commit to the Red Raiders over Big 12 rivals Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas among others.
At TTU: Fouonji missed several games at the beginning of the year and didn't receive much playing time until later, but he definitely showed flashes of his potential including a 31 yard touchdown grab in Stillwater.
Overall on the season he finished with five catches for 69 yards and that score. Per PFF he played 66 snaps on the year and received a season grade of 69.3.
As a recruit: Unlike others on this list so far, Rogers was not highly recruited...in fact his only other Power 5 offer was from Georgia Tech.
Overall it was a simple recruitment. Caleb picked up his offer from TTU in late March 2019 and would end up committing just six weeks later. He remained solid throughout his recruitment.
At TTU: I posted before the season started that I heard from a source that if Rogers gains the proper weight, he would leave TTU as a top three round NFL Draft pick. So far, so good.
Freshman offensive lineman should never be expected to play, so for Rogers to come in and essentially split time at left tackle says a lot.
Per PFF he played 419 snaps in 2020 and finished with a season grade of 50.1.
As a recruit: Minor's recruitment didn't really take off until the spring before his senior season, but he ended up with 15 total offers including Power 5's from California, Iowa State, Kansas and of course, Texas Tech. After multiple visits to campus including an official visit in June 2019, Minor committed to the scarlet and black.
At the end of the day the biggest competition for Minor would turn out to be Houston, as he visited the Cougars before signing day but ended up sticking with the Red Raiders.
At TTU: Minor did not receive much playing time in 2020, which is usually the case with freshman defensive backs. He played three snaps at the end of the Oklahoma game which was his only action of the season.
Still, the staff at RedRaiderSports liked what they saw from Minor as a recruit. He is a versatile defender, capable of playing corner, nickel or safety, and he has the athleticism, hands and ball-tracking ability to be a playmaker on that side of the ball. With several contributors from 2020 now elsewhere, look for Minor to compete to receive more playing time on defense.