Coveted Grad Transfer Tre Watson Spurns Texas Tech

Sunday, the Texas Tech football team lost out on a highly-regarded graduate transfer, running back Tre Watson from Cal who committed to Texas.

Texas Tech received disappointing news Sunday when talented running back Tre Watson, a grad transfer who played his first three years at Cal, decided to play his final season in Austin rather than Lubbock.

The multi-purpose running back had been in town for the Texas Tech spring game before also visiting Texas and LSU in April. After announcing earlier in the weekend that he was no longer considering LSU, Watson kept both Texas schools waiting as he made what appeared to be a tough decision.

Ultimately, the Corona, California native settled on the Longhorns despite some close connections with members of the Texas Tech family. Watson was familiar with Texas Tech offensive line coach Brandon Jones, who was in the same position at Cal for the first three years of Watson’s career. Subsequently, Jones was Watson’s primary recruiter and he played a huge role in putting the Red Raiders in the mix.

https://twitter.com/tre1watson/status/993259500768452608

Also, Watson was teammates with former Texas Tech quarterback Davis Webb, who played his final season at Cal in 2016. Webb has remained loyal to Texas Tech and likely put in a good word for the Red Raiders but ultimately, it was not enough to sway Watson’s decision.

Watson could be a big factor for Texas next season. In 31 career games, he has run for 1,390 yards and eight touchdowns while catching 37 passes for 379 yards and five scores. Of course, Watson’s effectiveness depends on his ability to recover from a torn knee ligament suffered in the second week of the 2017. As a result, he was granted a medical redshirt allowing him to be eligible in 2018.

Should Watson have come to Texas Tech, he would have been in the mix to be a feature running back. But even without adding another player, there are some talented options for Kliff Kingsbury.

Tre King will return for his senior season after finishing 2017 as arguably the best running back on the roster. King finished the season with 588 yards and four touchdowns on 121 carries. He had five games of over 60 yards rushing last year and looks to be a reliable option in the backfield.

Fortunately, Da’Leon Ward is also back in the mix after redshirting last season to focus on academics. As a freshman in 2016, Ward showed promise rushing for 428 yards on 103 carries to lead the team. He had the best spring of any running back on the roster and should be a boost for the Red Raiders this fall.

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Another possible running back that could step up is senior Desmond Nisby. The powerful 235-pound back fell out of favor with Kingsbury last season after struggling to hold on to the ball. But he provides the team with an element of size that could be valuable in the red zone should he earn more opportunities by regaining the trust of the coaching staff.

Additionally, Texas Tech signed two high school running backs in the 2018 class, Ta’Zhawn Henry and SaRodorick Thompson. Henry is the most likely of the two to see the field next season because he possesses the game-breaking speed that the rest of the running backs lack. Henry could be used in a similar manner as 2017 senior running back Justin Stockton who excelled on sweeps and screen passes designed to get him the ball in space.

Regardless, Texas Tech could have benefited from landing Watson. On an offense lacking proven playmakers, he would have been a welcome addition.

However, there is no reason to fear that the sky is falling. Watson should be looked at as a luxury item for Texas Tech and his absence is not going to be the difference between a successful and failure. The 2018 season will ultimately turn on the play of the inexperienced quarterbacks, namely Jett Duffey or McLane Carter.

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Now that Watson is off the board, Texas Tech can move forward knowing what its running backs situation is and developing an game plan that will best utilize the capable pieces the Red Raiders have to work with.

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