Texas Tech Football: What To Watch For In Today’s Spring Game
2. The Pass Rush
If the Texas Tech defense is to make an appreciable improvement this year, a number of unproven pass rushers must step up. Last season, Texas Tech had the fewest sacks in the Big 12 (14) and no defensive lineman on the current roster totaled more than one sack.
The 2016 recruiting class featured eight defensive line signees and three of the highest ranked members of that group redshirted last season. At least two of those redshirt freshmen, Houston Miller, Noah Jones and Nick McCann must prove capable of providing quality depth along a frightfully thin defensive line.
It would also be a huge relief if some of the veteran pass rushers would take a step forward. Juniors Kolin and Kaleb Hill and redshirt sophomore Lonzell Gillmore must be the leaders of the defensive line on the field. Kolin Hill and Gillmore both played last year but were largely ineffective while Kaleb Hill sat out the season after transferring from Boise State.
Another pass rusher to keep an eye on is sophomore Eli Howard. The transfer from North Texas who redshirted in 2016 has drawn repeated praise from the defensive coaching staff.
Another player that could provide some pressure is JUCO linebacker transfer Tony Jones. He had 18.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in 2015 for Butler County Community College. Jones was brought on board because of his proclivity for getting after the quarterback.
It will be interesting to see how Gibbs uses the versatile Florida native. In years past, Gibbs has refrained from using a large number of blitzes but that could change given Jones knack for creating havoc in the backfield.
It will be critical for at least three of these players to emerge as legitimate pass rush threats. The Red Raider secondary is rebuilding in 2017 so to expect defensive coordinator David Gibbs’ defensive backs to withstand the high-powered passing attacks of the Big 12 without pressure for the defensive line is unreasonable.
Given the state of the rebuilding Texas Tech offensive line, the defensive front should be able to put pressure on the quarterbacks today. If that is not the case, fans will have even more reason to worry about the 2017 defense than they already do.