How can Tech go about replacing the production of Jonathan Giles?
In a relatively surprising announcement last week, Texas Tech wide receiver Jonathan Giles made it known that he would be transferring to finish his career elsewhere.
In the offseason heading into his sophomore year in 2016, offensive coordinator Eric Morris sung his praises as a guy he expected to emerge as one of the team’s leading receivers.
Sure enough, Giles flew out of the gates at a blistering pace last season. Through the first seven games, Giles snagged 53 passes for 917 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a result, he was named a semifinalist for the Bilentikoff Award, but down the stretch of the last five games, his production fell off. He only caught 16 more passes and was held to 10 yards receiving or less twice.
Despite the disappointing finish, Giles was still considered by many to be Texas Tech’s best receiver. So when he made the decision to transfer, the logical question that followed was “How do you replace Giles and his production?”
In one sense, the coaching staff has been working on this for months, well before Giles’ decision to transfer. While Giles floundered down the stretch, Keke Coutee emerged as an equally, if not more, potent threat as a slot receiver in the Red Raiders’ offense.
Coutee caught just 6 passes through the end of September, though in fairness to him he converted two of them into touchdowns. But in the second half of the season, he went on quite a tear after Giles disappeared. Coutee caught 49 passes in the last eight games and racked up 788 yards, good for just over 16 yards per catch. He put the exclamation point on his sophomore campaign with an 8 catch, 221-yard performance against Baylor in which he found the end zone twice.
There’s no spinning the loss of Giles. But if a random person watched just the second half of Texas Tech’s 2016 season, they would view Coutee as the number one guy and Giles would be more of an afterthought.
Heading into the spring, Coutee moved to Giles’ old position as the starter at the Y slot position, and Giles moved behind senior Cameron Batson at the H slot. Coutee flourished in the new found role, clearly establishing himself as the top pass-catching option in the Red Raiders' offense heading into the spring.
It remains to be seen how things will shake out in 2017, though all indications are that Coutee will excel as the main target in Kliff Kingsbury’s attack. Meanwhile, Giles battled with Batson at the H slot spot opposite Coutee, with Batson receiving the majority of the starting snaps.
It's also worth noting that Batson, after sitting patiently behind Jakeem Grant as a freshman and sophomore, established himself as a playmaker in Tech's offense a year ago. He's one of the true vocal and emotional leaders on this team, so even without Giles, the H position is in good hands.
With Giles gone, it also leaves an opportunity for seniors Dylan Cantrell and Derrick Willies to be featured more in 2017. Cantrell has been reliable and consistent during his tenure as a Red Raider, but perhaps he’s primed for a breakout season on the outside if opposing defenses turn too much attention to Coutee in the slot. Willies showed flashes of his talent last year as well but was hindered by injuries throughout the season. Neither is necessarily a household name, but returning two talented seniors with starting experience on the outside is far from a bad situation.
Still, arguably the best way to replace the production of Jonathan Giles is to establish a run game. Even with as many weapons as Texas Tech has at receiver, we saw in 2016 that the offense can sputter if there’s no threat of an effective run game. Keeping more defenders in the box and being able to convert on third and short with the run game will open everything up for all of the receivers.
All in all, there are a multitude of factors that will determine Texas Tech’s ability to be successful without Giles. Obviously they’re a better team with Giles on the roster, but in no way does his absence sentence you to failure. Texas Tech still has an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver, and an improved run game could take this offense to a level that wasn’t even seen when Giles was producing like crazy last September.