Texas Tech Football Lands 3-Star OL Demarcus Marshall
The Texas Tech football program has added a huge piece to its 2018 signing class in offensive lineman Demarcus Marshall.
Three-star offensive line prospect, Demarcus Marshall from Grand Prairie, Texas verbally committed to the Texas Tech football program Wednesday morning. He announced his intentions via Twitter.
The 6-foot-2, 333-pound Marshall is one of the top high school offensive linemen in Texas. According to the “Dallas Morning News”, he is the No. 108 player in the state and the No. 33 offensive guard in the country.
Along with Texas Tech, Marshall has scholarship offers from Colorado, Colorado State, Houston, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri. He is the second offensive guard and the fifth offensive lineman to verbally commit to the Red Raider’s 2018 class.
In the above highlight video, Marshall plays both tackle and guard. However, his build (he looks to have somewhat shorter arms than other players his height) and playing style make him almost certain to be a guard in college.
In an offensive guard, teams want strength, physicality and a nasty disposition and it looks like Demarcus Marshall checks all of those boxes. Once he gets his hands on defenders, he annihilates them, erasing them with ease and violence.
Marshall also plays to the whistle, something that many large high school offensive linemen do not always do. He repeatedly joins the play downfield looking for crack-back blocks to help the ball carrier. When he connects on such blocks, the results are painful for the unassuming defenders.
However, his technique is far from where it needs to be. Marshall looks to have come to rely on his size and strength rather than proper form and often plays the position like a bull being let out of a shoot.
Far too often he stands up at the snap and goes headhunting. This causes him to miss on a few blocks and there are plays in the video that show him missing his initial block. However, in those plays, he makes up for the initial mistake with devastating blocks on the second level.
He reminds one of a poor man’s version of 2017 Texas Tech football signee Jack Anderson. That is nothing to be ashamed of because Anderson was a five-star prospect and a high school all-American. In fact, the Frisco, Texas product is currently listed as a starter at guard on the Texas Tech football depth chart.
What separates Anderson’s highlight tape from Marshall’s is that Anderson was far more well-rounded at this point of his career. Marshall is a devastating run blocker capable of cutting a wide swath through high school defenses. However, as a pass blocker he is lacking the footwork and leverage that is required of Big 12 linemen.
Overall, Marshall has the potential to be one of the top players in the 2018 Texas Tech football signing class. He has the size and power to be a mauler for the Red Raiders (though it would be safe to assume that strength and conditioning coach Rusty Whitt will want Marshall to lose some weight while adding muscle to improve his mobility and ability).
Next: QB Jett Duffey's Return Could Be Big
Texas Tech now has 18 players verbally committed to the 2018 class. 247sports.com ranks Tech’s class just eighth in the Big 12 and No. 54 in the country. Keep checking in with “Wreck ‘Em Red” for all the latest on Texas Tech football