Five Most Disappointing Players of the Kingsbury Era

No. 3 – Conner Dyer

One of the deepest positions on the current Texas Tech roster is the offensive line.  But that was not the case early in Kingsbury’s career when the team struggled to field ten healthy players to form two separate units for spring practice.

One reason for the struggles of the Texas Tech OL in 2015 and 2016 was the injuries that befell former 4-star signee Conner Dyer from Mesquite, Texas.  In 2015, Dyer was one of two 4-star signees for Kingsbury (unfortunately, the other also appears on this list) and it was around him that the Red Raider OL was going to be rebuilt.

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound recruit had offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ok. State, Oregon, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and UCLA.

Unfortunately, injuries prevented Dyer from ever seeing the field.  He retired from football in 2016 citing the multiple knee injuries he had endured.

Dyer’s fate was one all-too familiar for the 2015 offensive line signing class.  Of the six players Kingsbury signed that season, three (Trace Ellison, Cody Wheeler and Dyer) were no longer with the program by the fall of 2016.  Wheeler, like Dyer, retired due to injuries (concussions) while Ellison was kicked off the team for off-field issues.

But neither were as highly regarded as Conner Dyer.  In fact, few signees in recent memory have been as highly decorated and coveted which made the fact that he was never able to contribute one of the more disappointing developments of the Kliff Kingsbury tenure.