Texas Tech Will Host Grad Transfer RB From Cal

Graduate transfer running back Tre Watson, who played last season at Cal, will be in attendance at the Texas Tech spring game this weekend.

The annual spring football scrimmage is always a key date in the recruiting cycle.  Each year, dozens of high school and JUCO prospects come to Lubbock for an opportunity to check out the program’s facilities and spend time with the coaching staff and players.

But this year, one of the top recruits expected to be in attendance will be grad transfer running back Tre Watson.

The senior-to-be announced in January his intent to transfer following a season that saw him miss the final ten games due to a leg injury.

Watson was the Golden Bears starting tailback to begin the year and many expected a huge season.  But the season was cut short and now Watson is looking for a fresh start.

Coming out of high school in Corona, California, Watson was a three-star player and one of the most prolific high school running backs in the country.  He had scholarship offers from Washington, Utah, Boise State, UCLA and BYU.

And his skill set would make him a natural fit in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense.

"“Tre is one of those guys,” Cal running backs coach Beau Baldwin told SFGate.com last spring. “He’s just so versatile. I’ve had really good backs in the past, but I still felt maybe they were lacking in a certain area. … Tre truly has so much versatility in terms of being an every-down back that you can call a lot of different plays with him. You can put him out at receiver, and he looks really natural doing that. Then, you can run stuff inside the tackles, and he handles that well. He can get to the edges well, and from a pass-protection standpoint, he’s competitive. …"

Watson had a breakout junior season in 2017.  He rushed for 703 yards and four touchdowns while amassing 241 receiving yards and four more scores in the passing game.  Those numbers would have made Watson Texas Tech’s second-leading rusher and second-leading receiver out of the backfield last season behind Justin Stockton.

There could be a fit for Tre Watson in this year’s running back rotation.  Tre King is the top returning rusher while Desmond Nisby and Da’Leon Ward appear to be competing for back-up roles.  But none of the current Texas Tech running backs have proven to be as versatile as Watson was at Cal.

Kingsbury could also be expecting to use the run game more than ever next season as he tries to acclimate a new starting quarterback and three new starting receivers to life in the Big12. Plus, new offensive coordinator Kevin Johns has a track record of featuring multiple running backs in his offense.

In 2016 while at Indiana, Johns’ offense produced two 1,000-yard rushers while also producing a 3,500-yard passer. In 2014, Indiana set a school record with 3,163 yards rushing (263.6 yards per game).

Next: Nic Shimonek Climbing NFL Draft Boards

Now, Watson appears to be entertaining the idea of joining Johns at Texas Tech. If he does, there will be no doubt that the Red Raider offense will be looking to feature its stable of talented running backs in 2018 like never before in the Kingsbury era.