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Roundtable: Who will be Texas Tech's breakout star in 2016?

RELATED: Texas Tech updates depth chart | Takeaways: Monday press conference

Who will be the breakout star of Texas Tech's 2016 football season?

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Chris Level: It depends on how you define "breakout," I suppose. For me, I'll go with someone that most still aren't aware of just yet: backup running back DeMarcus Felton.

The former three-star prospect is the closest thing to DeAndre Washington that Kliff Kingsbury has on this Texas Tech roster. I say that because everything the Air Raid offense asks of its running backs are things that Felton can do and do well, much like Washington.

Kingsbury and running backs coach DeShaun Foster will enter the season wondering what type of workload that projected starter Justin Stockton can handle. I'm certain that whatever role there is left for Felton, he will ace it. In my opinion, Felton is someone that the fan base will be discussing early on this season and it will continue well into November. You've been warned.

Aaron Dickens: I think Terence Steele is going to wow a lot of people this season. There won't be any stats to point at week after week, and most people don't watch the offensive line to begin with, but I expect Steele to be as good as advertised.

Kliff Kingsbury, Patrick Mahomes and other players have gushed over Steele's ability and performance over the offseason. Up to this point in his career, the redshirt freshman has checked every box and met or exceeded every expectation. From standing out as a redshirting freshman, to impressing during the spring and now locking down the team's starting left tackle spot. The only thing left for Steele to do is perform in an actual game.

Steele's breakout season starts Saturday.

Will McKay: For me, it comes down to two players, but I'm going with what I believe to be the no-brainer: Sophomore Y-receiver Jonathan Giles. He was purely a rotational player as a true freshman a year ago, but one that made a surprising number of clutch third-down conversions in some key situations. Now, Giles is on a path to be much, much more than that this fall.

in the summer, I heard a few rumblings that he was making a big push and really blossoming into a technically sound receiver, something he had to grow into after playing quarterback in high school. Now that he's figured it out and had an offseason to get bigger, stronger and faster, the light bulb has come on, and in impressive fashion. He's great in space, is a speedster, and has learned how to be a college blocker. In fact, he's now set to start over junior Ian Sadler, who has been an extremely reliable safety blanket target for Patrick Mahomes over the last two seasons.

Eric Morris hasn't shied away from projecting Giles to be the receptions leader for this team this fall. Adding to that, the Y-receiver position is what this offense's passing game runs through by design. If you go back and look at Texas Tech's Air Raid era season-by-season, the Y-receiver has led this team in receptions more often than not.

This is a no-brainer. Giles is the breakout star for this team.

Matt Clare: The breakout star of Texas Tech's 2016 football season is going to be Jonathan Giles. There seems to be the perfect storm brewing of opportunity for Giles - Jakeem Grant graduates, Sadler still nursing a nagging injury, and the receiver depth chart was more wide open than ever before going into this off-season.

I remember sitting down with Giles' coach towards the end of his senior season, and coach Dennis Brantley told me about Giles' first game on varsity. It was Giles' freshman year of high school and Elkins needed another receiver on the team for playoffs. Not only did the freshman get the nod, but he stepped in immediately and started making plays.

Giles does not flinch in the big moment, he actually embraces those moments and often plays at his best. That was evident in his true freshman season last year and I expect big things from the true sophomore this season.

Drew Kohnle: Payton Hendrix. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound safety is entering into his third year with the program and is primed for a breakout season as he is currently only slated behind senior starter Keenon Ward. He should receive a lot of playing time this year as he has firmly put himself in the rotation.

After making some plays last fall – and possessing some big-time size for the position – Hendrix was receiving a lot of hype heading into 2015, and when the lofty expectations for the redshirt freshman weren’t met, Hendrix fairly-or-unfairly received some criticism for not breaking through.

So far this year, though, we have not only heard Hendrix’s name brought up as a standout performer by his defensive back counterparts, but many offensive players have made note of his play as well. Last week, Patrick Mahomes mentioned him as one of the hardest hitters on the team and the head coach has also put some praise on the safety following scrimmages and practices.

After signing eight defensive backs in the 2014 class, only three remain – Hendrix, Jah’Shawn Johnson and Tevin Madison – with Hendrix possessing some of the best raw talent and measurables of the bunch. With a second year in David Gibbs’ defensive back-friendly system, I don’t think it is out of the question to think this is the year things come together for Hendrix.

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