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Sorry this is a bit later than normal. I'm holed up at the allergist office getting a bunch of shots today, so I figured this would give me the best opportunity bang this out this week.
Here's a look at some positive and negative developments from the 2019 season as I see it. These aren't necessarily the three biggest developments on either side of the ledger, just the three that I find most interesting.
POSITIVE
SaRodorick Thompson – Simply put, if Jordyn Brooks was Texas Tech’s best player in 2019, Thompson heads into the offseason as the early favorite to take up that mantle in 2020. Thompson’s numbers won’t necessarily turn any heads around the conference, but his 765 rushing yards are the most from a Red Raider freshman since Taurean Henderson ran for 793 (in 14 games) in 2002. He led the Big 12 in running back receptions, and his 90.5 catch percentage is tops in the league among running backs with more than 10 targets. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Thompson’s freshman season was how much his coaches were able to lean on him late in the season, with Armand Shyne and Ta’Zhawn Henry out with injuries. The only Big 12 running back that played more snaps than Thompson during the regular season was Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard.
Specialists – Four months ago after a preseason practice, Matt Wells was not interested in discussing his placekickers. Their performance up to that point in camp did little to inspire confidence. That Trey Wolff would prove to be one of the most reliable kickers in the Big 12 over the course of the season is one of the more surprising 2019 developments for the Red Raiders. Wolff made the second-most field goals in the Big 12 this season, and his 20 makes were second only to LSU’s Cade York among freshmen kickers across FBS. Austin McNamara, meanwhile, turned in a Freshman All-American-caliber season at punter. His per punt average of 45.03 yards is the most by a Big 12 freshman since 2010. McNamara will enter the 2020 season as a bona fide weapon for the Red Raiders.
Grad transfer impacts – Armand Shyne was on pace to rush for more than 550 yards before he suffered a season-ending injury against Kansas. RJ Turner caught more passes than anyone else on the team and started the final 10 games of the season at X-receiver. Zech McPhearson played the second-most snaps on defense and graded out as the third-best player on defense. Evan Rambo was on track to grade out extremely highly but only played in six games due to injury. J’Marcus Ingram only played in nine games and didn’t set the world on fire when he played, but he provided some much-needed depth in the secondary. Here’s hoping Matt Wells and his staff can come close to replicating their grad transfer success in the coming seasons.
NEGATIVE
Defensive line didn't stand out – Unlike their counterparts at linebacker and in the secondary, Texas Tech’s defensive line wasn’t cobbled together out of tongue depressors and duct tape when the team faced off against Texas. That group, all things considered, stayed relatively healthy throughout the course of the season. It’s easy to explain away some of the poor play at linebacker and in the defensive backfield late in the season due to the M-A-S-H unit status of those position groups. That excuse doesn’t really exist for the defensive line.
Adrian Frye regressed – Fresh off of a Freshman All-American season, optimism was high for Frye heading into his sophomore campaign. Unfortunately, his production and performance fell off a cliff. Perhaps some of that can be attributed to injuries – he did wear a club cast on one of his hands for a good chunk of the season – or his transition from cornerback to safety, but Frye went from one of the defense’s top performers to arguably its worse. In fact, PFF graded Frye as the worst defender on the team this year; he only graded out higher than average once this season, against Kansas State. Texas Tech will need Frye to rebound if it wants to bounce back defensively next season.
No clear-cut QB1 – The worst development of the 2019 season for the Red Raiders was that no clear-cut QB1 emerged for 2020 and potentially beyond. Alan Bowman showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman but injuries have now de-railed both of his two collegiate seasons. Jett Duffey can be an electric playmaker but he entered both of the last two seasons as the team’s third-string quarterback and the offense seemed limited at times this fall with him behind center. Maverick McIvor is a promising talent, but he hasn’t played in a competitive football game since Sept. 2018. Donovan Smith will be a true freshman and won’t be on campus until next summer. Having an entrenched, star at quarterback is by no means a cure-all (see: Mahomes, Patrick) but it certainly helps.
