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Texas Tech Football Gets Verbal Commitment From OT Clayton Franks

By Matthew Conner

Sep 29, 2016; Lubbock, TX, USA; The Texas Tech Red Raiders paused for a moment of silence before the game with the Kansas Jayhawks at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 29, 2016; Lubbock, TX, USA; The Texas Tech Red Raiders paused for a moment of silence before the game with the Kansas Jayhawks at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kliff Kingsbury and the Texas Tech football coaching staff have put together one of the busiest recruiting weeks in memory over the past seven days.  On Sunday, offensive tackle Clayton Franks became that 11th member of the 2018 class.

Mansfield, Texas offensive tackle Clayton Franks is the latest high school player to join the parade of prospects to join the 2018 Texas Tech recruiting class.  In the last week, seven high school players have verbally committed to the Red Raiders increasing the class’ size by almost 200%.

According to the website 247sports.com, Franks is a 2-star recruit rated as the No. 277 overall player in Texas.  The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Texas Tech legacy has offers from New Mexico, New Mexico State and North Texas as well as Tech.  247sports also lists such schools as Arkansas, Kansas State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas and Texas A&M as having shown some interest.

This commitment is significant because it is the first addition to the offensive line for the 2018 class. Since arriving at Tech, Kingsbury has placed a premium on stocking the offensive line.

In every year since 2013, Kingsbury has added no fewer than four offensive linemen to each recruiting class.  This is no surprise given then when he took over the team in 2013, the Red Raiders did not have enough offensive linemen to field two complete units during spring practice.

Franks posted two highlight videos online, one featuring his work as a run blocker and the other displaying his pass protection skills.

As a run blocker, Franks’ video is impressive.  He is quick off the ball and once he gets his hands on a defender he usually drives him to the turf.

In the pass protection clips (which are few), Franks plays with a wide base and nice footwork.  At times he can reach a little bit which he gets away with because of his long arms that allow him to neutralize high school defenders.  He will need to work on staying back in his stance because if he reaches to get his hands on defenders in the Big 12, he will fall off balance and will be vulnerable.

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It will be worth watching to see what Kingsbury decides to do with the offensive line in this class.  There are only two seniors (Tony Morales and graduate Transfer Dwayne Johnson Jr., no relation to the other Dwayne Johnson) currently on the roster.  Plus, the 2018 class is expected to be smaller than other classes because of the limited scholarships that will be available after this season because of the few graduating seniors the team stands to lose.

Thus, the Texas Tech coaches must be high on Franks if they are willing to use one of what could be just two or three spots for offensive linemen in this class on him.  The position group is stocked full of young and talented players so Tech will have the luxury of redshirting Franks if necessary.

Next: What Big 12 Coaching Moves Mean For Texas Tech

Texas Tech has averaged about one commit per day over the past week.  That pace is certain to slow but regardless, it is nice to see some momentum on the recruiting trail.  Keep checking in with Wreck ‘Em Red as Tech continues to assemble the next recruiting class.

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