We asked for your questions last week and the entire RRS staff has worked to answer your questions on this one. If you weren’t included on this one but have a question for us, drop it down below and it will be a part of next week’s mailbag!
@C. Level will be including some of these questions during his conversation with @A. Dickens this week as well, so tune into that for his perspective.
Cream puff schedule for football next season. Staff thoughts on our W/L prospects for next season? @bbardwell
Wouldn’t say cream puff schedule, but yes, you have an excellent opportunity to build momentum early in the season. Frankly it’s going to feel weird playing so many newcomer schools in the early going but the likes of Washington State, Arizona State, Cincinnati & the two lower-level non-con games are very winnable. If you can be 4-1 or 5-0 before the trip to Arizona, you’re in great shape. The three road games in the back half of the schedule worry me, but is it crazy to say 9-3? I don’t think so. I am very interested to see how this new-look roster fares, frankly it excites me. - @J. Apodaca
What is a much-too-early, pre-Spring, best guess at what the top 8 looks like for the OL for '24? Also, without disparaging the '23 linemen, what reason do we have for hoping it will be better? @blackswarm93
Your interior OL is probably a safe bet at this point, with that tandem looking like it will likely be Caleb Rogers at C, Vinny Sciury at LG and Davion Carter at RG. Your tackles, while there are guys there you can feel good about, are not truly set and will likely be the biggest question marks of the spring and summer. You could maybe say Maurice Rodriques is close to a shoe-in at LT, but we’ve come to understand he’s still a bit raw and will still take some time to get better. So that leaves RT, which is essentially a three-horse race between MTSU transfer Sterling Porcher, Ty Buchanan and former JUCO prospect, 6-foot-9 Dalton Merryman. Buchanan can play either tackle so I’d reckon he’ll likely get reps at both sides, he started at left in the bowl game if memory serves. If you’re looking into some of the younger guys, Kaden Carr, Nick Fattig and Daniel Sill have a year under their belts in the system. There’s your refresher on the personnel and who is likely going to get the most looks and possible PT.
Now for the second part of your question, it’s hard to tell, especially with the portal what guys will pan out and which ones will fall flat. You can’t really use the experience card in this case because the group last year had plenty of age to them. I think with Sciury and Rodriques, you’ve recruited specimens and Sciury has both the athleticism and the experience to back that up. Rodriques will be a work in progress. Carter, while a bit undersized by some standards at 6-foot-3, scored pretty highly on PFF and is in my eyes a great pass blocker. As for why this group could be better next season, I think it really will come down to the influx of athleticism and being able to show off their skillset because of it. - @J. Ramirez
After watching all of the bowl games it emphasized again how we have a lot of work to do on the offensive line. I know it takes time and we have recruits coming but do we have more irons in the fire for next class? Does not look like we have much. Think we need as many as we can get for to take the next step. @suzstalls
Great timing for this question, especially with the offensive line coach being replaced. Texas Tech has done a really good job signing high school lineman in the 2023 and 2024 classes, but as we all know those kids need at least two - if not three - years before they see the field. That has forced the staff to go heavy in the transfer portal which ideally they would prefer to not do.
For 2025 the staff has plenty of targets but no commits yet. Expect that to change soon. Some of the priority targets include Keiton Jones, Nicolai Brooks, Marcus Garcia, Mark Handy, R.J. Lee and Henry Fenuku among others. Expect them to take another big group this cycle. - @B. Golan
Do we think our OC can find pass plays between the hash marks this year? @stp74
I think the personnel that you have is going to give you a much better chance to do so. Josh Kelly and Micah Hudson have the chance to be excellent route runners for Tech. Just look at Kelly’s PFF chart from 2023 at Wazzu. Really strong over the middle, his tape and athleticism backs it up too.
The other question will be how well you can block it, which I’m optimistic about based on the type of guys you brought in this portal cycle. Morton has the arm strength to get it there (the throw to Myles Price on the final drive in Lawrence sticks out). Frankly, I’m excited about what the offense can look like, you have many playmakers with Brooks coming back. The personnel is there to do whatever you want with it. - @J. Apodaca
% chance we take another QB after Spring? @BeeMack3130
Never say never but following the addition of West Georgia transfer Cameran Brown, I don’t see it. Behren Morton is entrenched as the starter and behind him you have the aforementioned Brown, redshirt freshman Jake Strong and four-star freshman Will Hammond. The staff will evaluate the group during spring football, where hopefully one or two of the backups impress enough to not have to add a fifth quarterback to the mix. - @B. Golan
Will Texas Tech men's basketball finish in the top 2 of the Big 12? @Rolf C
At the current rate that the conference is running at, it almost feels like to an extent you don’t really have to rely on another team dropping a random game for this to happen. When you’re in situations like this, it would certainly feel like you’d have to say “Well we need Kansas to lose *xyz* and Houston and…”, you get the idea. This conference is eating itself alive game-by-game, and the point I am trying to make in all of this is take care of business and you give yourself a great shot. You have five games each home and away, but you certainly can’t split those to finish that high, regardless of what anybody else does. Not having to play Houston again is major, as is not having to go to Allen Fieldhouse. Your next two road games are Baylor and Iowa State, and I would say if you want to put momentum in your favor to finish that high in the league you have to steal one of those. While I certainly wouldn’t flat out say this team is going to be top 2 in the conference, I think there is still a great shot even after losing back-to-back, just because of the nature of the beast in the Big 12. - @J. Ramirez
May have missed this, but what is the deal with KyeRon Lindsay? Is he a bad player, dog house, selfish, etc.? Because we could really use athletic 6'8 off the bench. @Samb5
Asked Grant about this postgame on Saturday and his answer really stuck out to me as they just cannot trust him. Here’s the quote…
“And we watch every practice. I mean, I'm out there watching, you know, every scenario and maybe the guys that don't play, we come back the day after the game as long as we have actual practice that we work out and I watch it and I evaluate it and the guys that actually can do we want them to do, they get the opportunity to play in the game and the guys that can't do it consistently, they don't play. So it's the guys that help us win that we're playing."
I thought the quote after last night's game where Lindsay played as much as he has all year was telling, also, here's that one...
"Yeah, I mean it's one thing to get minutes it's one thing to be good and um, you know, and obviously we weren't tonight so you know, get back to it and so I told him in there, man, it's hard when you're racking these games up like we're racking them up. You need practice, honestly, and when you when you're in these kinds of situations not being able to practice going into this game really hurt us just to trying to get those guys with an understanding of what we want them to do."
Hopefully the Baylor game is a growing point for those guys, would be really nice and really helpful. - @J. Apodaca
How much roster turnover in men’s hoops this offseason? @LakeRanger
Texas Tech will for sure lose Joe Toussaint and Warren Washington following the season. Assuming Devan Cambridge gets his medical redshirt, everyone else on the roster has remaining eligibility. Of that group you can safely assume Texas Tech wants guys such as Pop Isaacs, Darrion Williams, Chance McMillian, Kerwin Walton and Cambridge to return. All have played big minutes (when healthy) this season. Beyond that group the staff will have some interesting decisions to make. Robert Jennings and Lamar Washington are true sophomores and have been role players. There’s potential there. D’Maurian Williams, KyeRon Lindsay and Eemeli Yalaho have not produced at the level expected this season. At the end of the day I’ll predict at least 5 new additions this off-season but it could potentially be even more if you have unexpected departures. - @B. Golan
How much did ‘the flu’ affect our performance against Cincinnati? I’m guessing we were nowhere near 100%. @Cajun Red Raider
Well, it was what I believe to be both a combination of “an illness” whether that be the flu or stomach bug or whatever it might have been, and just the sheer fatigue that has been noticed for several games now. This team is exhausted, both from the physicality of the games and not having the kind of depth to give guys proper rests during them. Coach McCasland said after the game “there’s a lot of guys going through it,” so evidently it isn’t just Lamar Washington. They are without a doubt less than 100%. While you’re not exactly early in the conference slate, some of the most difficult opponents are still left on the board and it is concerning how tired the team is heading into this final stretch. - @J. Ramirez
Founded by a Red Raider, All Hands Craft Cocktails is proud to announce their partnership with RedRaiderSports.com. Try these bar strength, ready-to-drink vodka cocktails at Jones AT&T Stadium this football season or find them at a retailer near you. Cheers.
@C. Level will be including some of these questions during his conversation with @A. Dickens this week as well, so tune into that for his perspective.
Cream puff schedule for football next season. Staff thoughts on our W/L prospects for next season? @bbardwell
Wouldn’t say cream puff schedule, but yes, you have an excellent opportunity to build momentum early in the season. Frankly it’s going to feel weird playing so many newcomer schools in the early going but the likes of Washington State, Arizona State, Cincinnati & the two lower-level non-con games are very winnable. If you can be 4-1 or 5-0 before the trip to Arizona, you’re in great shape. The three road games in the back half of the schedule worry me, but is it crazy to say 9-3? I don’t think so. I am very interested to see how this new-look roster fares, frankly it excites me. - @J. Apodaca
What is a much-too-early, pre-Spring, best guess at what the top 8 looks like for the OL for '24? Also, without disparaging the '23 linemen, what reason do we have for hoping it will be better? @blackswarm93
Your interior OL is probably a safe bet at this point, with that tandem looking like it will likely be Caleb Rogers at C, Vinny Sciury at LG and Davion Carter at RG. Your tackles, while there are guys there you can feel good about, are not truly set and will likely be the biggest question marks of the spring and summer. You could maybe say Maurice Rodriques is close to a shoe-in at LT, but we’ve come to understand he’s still a bit raw and will still take some time to get better. So that leaves RT, which is essentially a three-horse race between MTSU transfer Sterling Porcher, Ty Buchanan and former JUCO prospect, 6-foot-9 Dalton Merryman. Buchanan can play either tackle so I’d reckon he’ll likely get reps at both sides, he started at left in the bowl game if memory serves. If you’re looking into some of the younger guys, Kaden Carr, Nick Fattig and Daniel Sill have a year under their belts in the system. There’s your refresher on the personnel and who is likely going to get the most looks and possible PT.
Now for the second part of your question, it’s hard to tell, especially with the portal what guys will pan out and which ones will fall flat. You can’t really use the experience card in this case because the group last year had plenty of age to them. I think with Sciury and Rodriques, you’ve recruited specimens and Sciury has both the athleticism and the experience to back that up. Rodriques will be a work in progress. Carter, while a bit undersized by some standards at 6-foot-3, scored pretty highly on PFF and is in my eyes a great pass blocker. As for why this group could be better next season, I think it really will come down to the influx of athleticism and being able to show off their skillset because of it. - @J. Ramirez
After watching all of the bowl games it emphasized again how we have a lot of work to do on the offensive line. I know it takes time and we have recruits coming but do we have more irons in the fire for next class? Does not look like we have much. Think we need as many as we can get for to take the next step. @suzstalls
Great timing for this question, especially with the offensive line coach being replaced. Texas Tech has done a really good job signing high school lineman in the 2023 and 2024 classes, but as we all know those kids need at least two - if not three - years before they see the field. That has forced the staff to go heavy in the transfer portal which ideally they would prefer to not do.
For 2025 the staff has plenty of targets but no commits yet. Expect that to change soon. Some of the priority targets include Keiton Jones, Nicolai Brooks, Marcus Garcia, Mark Handy, R.J. Lee and Henry Fenuku among others. Expect them to take another big group this cycle. - @B. Golan
Do we think our OC can find pass plays between the hash marks this year? @stp74
I think the personnel that you have is going to give you a much better chance to do so. Josh Kelly and Micah Hudson have the chance to be excellent route runners for Tech. Just look at Kelly’s PFF chart from 2023 at Wazzu. Really strong over the middle, his tape and athleticism backs it up too.
The other question will be how well you can block it, which I’m optimistic about based on the type of guys you brought in this portal cycle. Morton has the arm strength to get it there (the throw to Myles Price on the final drive in Lawrence sticks out). Frankly, I’m excited about what the offense can look like, you have many playmakers with Brooks coming back. The personnel is there to do whatever you want with it. - @J. Apodaca
% chance we take another QB after Spring? @BeeMack3130
Never say never but following the addition of West Georgia transfer Cameran Brown, I don’t see it. Behren Morton is entrenched as the starter and behind him you have the aforementioned Brown, redshirt freshman Jake Strong and four-star freshman Will Hammond. The staff will evaluate the group during spring football, where hopefully one or two of the backups impress enough to not have to add a fifth quarterback to the mix. - @B. Golan
Will Texas Tech men's basketball finish in the top 2 of the Big 12? @Rolf C
At the current rate that the conference is running at, it almost feels like to an extent you don’t really have to rely on another team dropping a random game for this to happen. When you’re in situations like this, it would certainly feel like you’d have to say “Well we need Kansas to lose *xyz* and Houston and…”, you get the idea. This conference is eating itself alive game-by-game, and the point I am trying to make in all of this is take care of business and you give yourself a great shot. You have five games each home and away, but you certainly can’t split those to finish that high, regardless of what anybody else does. Not having to play Houston again is major, as is not having to go to Allen Fieldhouse. Your next two road games are Baylor and Iowa State, and I would say if you want to put momentum in your favor to finish that high in the league you have to steal one of those. While I certainly wouldn’t flat out say this team is going to be top 2 in the conference, I think there is still a great shot even after losing back-to-back, just because of the nature of the beast in the Big 12. - @J. Ramirez
May have missed this, but what is the deal with KyeRon Lindsay? Is he a bad player, dog house, selfish, etc.? Because we could really use athletic 6'8 off the bench. @Samb5
Asked Grant about this postgame on Saturday and his answer really stuck out to me as they just cannot trust him. Here’s the quote…
“And we watch every practice. I mean, I'm out there watching, you know, every scenario and maybe the guys that don't play, we come back the day after the game as long as we have actual practice that we work out and I watch it and I evaluate it and the guys that actually can do we want them to do, they get the opportunity to play in the game and the guys that can't do it consistently, they don't play. So it's the guys that help us win that we're playing."
I thought the quote after last night's game where Lindsay played as much as he has all year was telling, also, here's that one...
"Yeah, I mean it's one thing to get minutes it's one thing to be good and um, you know, and obviously we weren't tonight so you know, get back to it and so I told him in there, man, it's hard when you're racking these games up like we're racking them up. You need practice, honestly, and when you when you're in these kinds of situations not being able to practice going into this game really hurt us just to trying to get those guys with an understanding of what we want them to do."
Hopefully the Baylor game is a growing point for those guys, would be really nice and really helpful. - @J. Apodaca
How much roster turnover in men’s hoops this offseason? @LakeRanger
Texas Tech will for sure lose Joe Toussaint and Warren Washington following the season. Assuming Devan Cambridge gets his medical redshirt, everyone else on the roster has remaining eligibility. Of that group you can safely assume Texas Tech wants guys such as Pop Isaacs, Darrion Williams, Chance McMillian, Kerwin Walton and Cambridge to return. All have played big minutes (when healthy) this season. Beyond that group the staff will have some interesting decisions to make. Robert Jennings and Lamar Washington are true sophomores and have been role players. There’s potential there. D’Maurian Williams, KyeRon Lindsay and Eemeli Yalaho have not produced at the level expected this season. At the end of the day I’ll predict at least 5 new additions this off-season but it could potentially be even more if you have unexpected departures. - @B. Golan
How much did ‘the flu’ affect our performance against Cincinnati? I’m guessing we were nowhere near 100%. @Cajun Red Raider
Well, it was what I believe to be both a combination of “an illness” whether that be the flu or stomach bug or whatever it might have been, and just the sheer fatigue that has been noticed for several games now. This team is exhausted, both from the physicality of the games and not having the kind of depth to give guys proper rests during them. Coach McCasland said after the game “there’s a lot of guys going through it,” so evidently it isn’t just Lamar Washington. They are without a doubt less than 100%. While you’re not exactly early in the conference slate, some of the most difficult opponents are still left on the board and it is concerning how tired the team is heading into this final stretch. - @J. Ramirez
Founded by a Red Raider, All Hands Craft Cocktails is proud to announce their partnership with RedRaiderSports.com. Try these bar strength, ready-to-drink vodka cocktails at Jones AT&T Stadium this football season or find them at a retailer near you. Cheers.
