Right guard Jack Anderson had shoulder surgery that caused him to miss a good chunk of the offseason early on. With only days away from kickoff, the experienced leader is ready to hit the field once again.

Anderson's status at right guard is solidified. Dawson Deaton, like Anderson missed time as well. However, Deaton won the battle for the starting center job, putting him to the left of Anderson, who has been his teammate since about eighth grade.

"I feel like our roles are starting to settle in after both scrimmages being done and what not," Anderson said. "That's a big piece, seeing the live game when the bullets are really flying. There's still a lot going on, a lot of movement. Still got 10-11 days, whatever it is, so I think we'll see some more changes. I'd say it's about half-and-half.

Anderson did take some time learning the center ad tackle positions, just like a majority of the line.

He said if you can play center then you can pretty much play anywhere. He added the transition from playing all three interior spots, like going from guard to center can be difficult but moving a guard to a tackle position isn't as bad.

Anderson hasn't received too many live reps at center, he said, but he has enough experience there and has control of his snaps to do it. For him, though, he feels most comfortable and wants to play at his original position - right guard.

Texas Tech kicks-off the season on August 31 against Montana State. He and the rest of the offensive line is looking to establish a "nasty" physical style of play early and ride with that throughout the season.

"I want to hit someone thats not Broderick, Nick McCann or Jaylon Hutchings."

Anderson reminisced about the time missed in the spring. He said he had a tough managing the fact that he couldn't practice with his teammates. He was sidelined for a month in a brace following the shoulder surgery.

He jumped right back in after the month spent in the contraption with running or workouts that didn't require his injured arm. During that time, he was ahead of schedule.

We've heard about how fast this offense will be. Being over 300 pounds can be a struggle in such a high-paced offense but Anderson said they love it because they'll run eight-play drives with quick signals not allowing defenses to sub out or even receive their calls.

A crucial point to running this high-tempo offense is obviously conditioning. Anderson said they're getting into game shape and are close but he believes they won't truly build and mold into that condition until they actually play a game.

The running backs for the Red Raiders are loaded in Anderson's eyes. He said they'll be good at the position from Armand Shyne to Jax Welch. He added Ta'Zhawn Henry put on about 20 pounds this offseason and will run tough for the Red Raiders.

Finally, Anderson said his weight goal this season is stick around 315 pounds, especially for game one.

"Where am I at weight-wise? Let's just say I'll be 315 on August 31. On August 31, I'll be 315. After that practice I don't know but I'll get back to 308-310 maybe. Maybe I look 320, I don't know. Hopefully I don't look 330," Anderson said laughing.