How Texas Tech Will Replace Jonathan Giles At Receiver

Jonathan Giles, Texas Tech’s leading receiver from 2016 has announced his intentions to transfer from the program. How does this impact the Red Raider offense?

Kliff Kingsbury and the Texas Tech football team learned on Friday that they will have to replace a second huge contributor from last season’s offense. Inside receiver Jonathan Giles, last season’s leading receiver, has made it known that he is leaving the program making him the second major loss from that unit after quarterback Patrick Mahomes left early for the NFL Draft.

The Houston area native caught 69 passes for 1158 yards and 13 touchdowns during his sophomore season. He was the 4^th leading receiver in the Big 12 and a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award for the nation’s top receiver.

But while his statistics were impressive, there were underlying issues with Giles that make it seem like his departure will not be as devastating as it may appear. Giles was benched in the Red Raider’s second-to-last game in 2016 for what was believed to be a lack of effort (though an official reason was not provided by Texas Tech).

In fact, Giles disappeared after grabbing 10 balls for 167 yards and two scores against Oklahoma on October 22^nd. He totaled just 16 catches for a meager 241 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s final five games.

His decline allowed fellow inside receiver Keke Coutee to emerge as the team’s top target. Coutee caught 28 passes for 425 yards and three touchdowns down the stretch as Giles faded. His best game of the year came in the season finale against Baylor when he caught eight balls for 221 yards and two scores.

Coutee’s emergence prompted the Texas Tech coaches to move Giles to the other inside receiver position where he was to compete with senior Cam Batson. Batson was listed as the starter ahead of Giles when the post-spring practice depth chart was released two weeks ago.

So it is natural to think that Giles is unhappy with his role on the team and wants a fresh start. It appears to outside observers that he is not willing to compete for the playing time to which he feels entitled.

Giles is an amazing athlete and talented receiver. He has good hands and fantastic speed making him capable of taking any pass the distance.

However, his attitude appears to have been his downfall. Fortunately, the Red Raiders are well-equipped to replace Giles.

Coutee looks primed for a huge 2017 season. The Lufkin, TX product had 55 catches for 890 yards and seven touchdowns last year. He is the fastest receiver on the roster and in addition to being a go-to target, he is a dangerous kick returner.

Batson is a reliable and steady option opposite Coutee. He caught 60 passes for 644 yards and eight touchdowns last year. While he is not as electric as Giles, he is more than capable of being an effective weapon for quarterback Nick Shimonek.

Also, look for former JUCO transfer De’Quan Bowman to receive more reps in Giles’ absence. The 2016 signee red-shirted last season after putting up the 12^th most all-purpose yards in JUCO football in 2015.

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Bowman is another kick return weapon like Coutee. He averaged 11.2 yards per punt return and 22.5 yards per kickoff return at Hutchinson Community College. The New Jersey native chose Tech over Iowa State, Arizona, Georgia, Arkansas, West Virginia, California and Wisconsin.

While Giles’ transfer is not good news, there are players on the roster fully capable of putting up similar numbers. More importantly, those players do not appear to have the attitude and effort problems that plagued Giles.

This news comes shortly after former Texas Tech defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko announced his decision to transfer to LSU (though he made known in January that he was not returning to Tech). Some fans and many outside observers will perceive these defections as further proof that Kingsbury is losing his grip on the football program.

But that is not necessarily true. People in west Texas know that before any field can produce good crops, the weeds must be eradicated.

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Giles, like Fehoko, was not willing to get on board with what the Texas Tech coaches expected. Their departures reveal more about them as competitors than they do about the football program. While two entitled and high-profile players have decided to tuck tail and run, a hundred other players are bought in to the Texas Tech system and have no problem getting with the program. Those are the players that fans should want to be on the fiel and those are the players that Texas Tech will rely on in 2017.

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