The Air Raid era is entering its 17th season on the South Plains. Far from a passing fad, as some felt at the time of Mike Leach's debut season in 2000, this style of play has become a substantial component of Texas Tech's football history.

We look back, position by position, at the most impressive individual seasons of the Red Raiders' Air Raid era.

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The Numbers: 442-of-626 passing (70.6 percent), 5,111 passing yards, 45 passing TD, 9 INT, 6 rushing TD

The Case: Fairly or unfairly, a quarterback's performance in any given season is largely judged by wins, and Graham Harrell guided Texas Tech to one of its best-ever seasons in 2008. His completion rate, yardage and passing touchdowns were down from his junior campaign, but Harrell still put up video game numbers while leading the Red Raiders to 11 wins.

The Numbers: 512-of-713 passing (71.8 percent), 5,705 passing yards, 48 passing TD, 14 INT, 4 rushing TD

The Case: Harrell's most impressive season statistically came in 2007, where he approached B.J. Symons' NCAA-record mark of 5,833 passing yards. These eye-popping numbers, coupled with wins over No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 20 Virginia, push Harrell's junior campaign above the pack.

The Numbers: 364-of-573 passing (63.5 percent), 4,653 passing yards, 36 passing TD, 15 INT, 456 rushing yards, 10 rushing TD

The Case: Mahomes, in his first season as a starter, became just the third player in Big 12 history to account for more than 5,000 yards of total offense in a single season. Texas Tech finished with just seven wins thanks in large part to its porous defense, but the team still notched notable wins at Arkansas and Texas. The fact that Mahomes was able to do all of this as a true sophomore and first-year starter pushes him into the No. 3 spot on this list.

The Numbers: 470-of-719 passing (65.4 percent), 5,833 passing yards, 52 passing TD, 22 INT, 143 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD

The Case: Much like Mahomes in 2015, Symons led an offensive juggernaut that was saddled with a woeful defense. What makes Symons' performance even more impressive is the fact that he played on a torn ACL for the last half of the season. The Red Raiders won eight games in 2003 but, save for an impressive win at Ole Miss, they notched their Ws against non-Power Five teams and sub-.500 Big 12 teams.

The Numbers: 479-of-712 passing (67.3 percent), 5,017 passing yards, 45 TD, 13 INT, 2 rushing TD

The Case: It's a testament to the offensive tradition that Kingsbury helped start at Texas Tech that his record-setting 2002 season checks in at fifth on this list. He set Big 12 records for single-season passing and total offense marks (since broken multiple times) as a senior but it's worth noting, when comparing Kingsbury's numbers to others' on this list, that those numbers were compiled over the course of a 14-game season. Kingsbury guided the Red Raiders to a 9-5 record in 2002, with notable wins against Ole Miss, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 4 Texas and Clemson.