Top Five: Texas Tech impact newcomers

With the season 18 days away and counting, the Texas Tech Red Raiders will look to get off to a 1-0 start against the Houston Cougars.

Helping them in their efforts will be several newcomers. In the 2021 class the coaches signed 11 high school prospects, one junior college prospect and added nine transfers this offseason, not to mention additions from the 2020 class who did not see any playing time.

Who are the newcomers expected to make the biggest impact? We look at the top five along with a handful of honorable mentions.

The transfer corner from UCLA is in the mix - along with several others - to start opposite DaMarcus Fields. He has a chance to move up this list should he win that job.

Last season he played 126 snaps with a PFF grade of 63.9.

He's listed by Texas Tech at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds.

The transfer corner from North Carolina State is also in the mix to win the starting job opposite Fields.

Last season he played 459 snaps with a PFF grade of 56.5

He's listed by Texas Tech at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds.

The true freshman from Klein has drawn rave reviews since arriving on campus over the winter break.

Senior Travis Koontz is expected to start but don't be surprised to see the 6-foot-9, 250 pound Tharp play his way into a significant role this season.

The transfer defensive back from Wisconsin was about to sign with South Dakota, but a last minute call from DC Keith Patterson and Texas Tech being able to medically clear Pearson led the way for him to become a Red Raider. Now he will try to show the coaches their effort was well worth it.

Pearson's last playing time came in 2019, where he started 13 of 14 games and played a total of 667 snaps on the year, finishing with a PFF grade of 68.3.

Pearson is in the mix to start at safety and I expect him to receive significant playing time no matter what role he ends up in.

Geiger was an All-Sun Belt selection in each of the last two seasons at Troy but with family in the area and a child due, he decided to come back to his home state of Texas for his last year of college football.

He will also be switching positions, as head coach Matt Wells has repeatedly mentioned he expects Geiger to play on the outside after being mostly a slot receiver so far in his career.

In 2020, Geiger played 522 snaps and finished with a PFF grade of 66.2.

There isn't a newcomer on defense at Texas Tech who has already made and is expected to make the impact Muddy Waters will.

The transfer from Duke has played a lot of college football - 2,446 snaps as a Blue Devil to be exact.

His best season came in 2018, when he earned a season grade of 77.7. The following year he earned a very solid grade of 73.1. In both of those seasons he was coached by current Texas Tech defensive backs coach Derek Jones.

Look for Waters to win a starting safety job and start making plays from the get-go.

T.J. Storment has been everywhere.

From being an Old Dominion signee out of high school, to Fullerton College, to Colorado State and then TCU, Storment will try to make his last college season his most memorable as a Red Raider.

He, of course, comes over with new offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie.

Storment had a very good season in 2020 as a Horned Frog, playing 420 snaps and finishing with a PFF grade of 69.4, which was good enough to earn All-Big 12 second team honors.

Look for Storment to start at left tackle in 2021 and protect the blindside of the top player on this list...

Was there any question who would top this list?

Widely expected to be named Texas Tech's starting quarterback in the coming days, there isn't a person on Tech's campus who the Red Raiders' season depends more on than Tyler Shough.

The Oregon transfer arrives after starting all seven (7) games for the Ducks in 2020, finishing with a PFF grade of 61.5.

Texas Tech's quarterback position has been shaky at best the last several years, but Shough has the size, talent, pedigree and experience to be Tech's best quarterback since one Patrick Mahomes in 2016.