How Did The Texas Tech Football QB Situation Become So Shaky?

Davis Webb’s Disappointing Sophomore Season

The roots of the current quarterback quandary can be traced back to Kliff Kingsbury’s second season as head coach.  2014 began with huge hopes for starting quarterback Davis Webb who had a solid true freshman season.

After a 2013 season that saw Webb throw for 2,718 yards, 20 touchdowns and only nine picks in 10 games as a freshman, Webb disappointed in 2014.  In only eight games, Webb threw for 24 touchdowns but saw his interceptions increase to 13.

But more than just the number of picks he threw, it was the timing of them that was deadly.  Critical interceptions at the end of the first half of games versus Arkansas and West Virginia turned the tide in two winnable games that Tech would ultimately lose.

Also, injuries hurt Webb that season and cost Tech two more potential wins.  Against Oklahoma State, Webb had to leave a one-score game in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury.

Then, a leg injury ended his season with four games to play forcing Tech to start true freshman Pat Mahomes for the first time against a below-average Texas team.  Mahomes would not last a quarter against Texas before leaving with his own injury in a Red Raider loss.

But after returning from his injury, Mahomes would lay claim to the Texas Tech offense.  In the final three games of 2014, Mahomes threw for 1,319 yards, 16 touchdowns and only two picks.  Those numbers gave him an advantage in the race for the 2015 job, one he would claim and not relinquish until he left after his junior season for the NFL.

So how did 2014 impact the 2018 quarterback race?

If Webb had stayed healthy and played up to expectations that season, there is reason to believe that Mahomes could have redshirted as a true freshman.  It is unclear whether the intention was to have him redshirt in 2014 but he did not take a snap until the third game of the season, after Webb left the Oklahoma State game.

But because of Webb’s injuries, Mahomes was needed to play significant snaps.  But if Webb had stayed healthy, Mahomes would never have started a game in 2014 and would almost certainly not have won the starting job in 2015.

That means that Mahomes’ would have had to beat out Webb in 2016 (Webb’s senior season) to have any hope of leaving for the NFL after his junior season.  But because Mahomes got an early opportunity, he was able to have to stellar years in 2015-16 making him the No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Think about how the Texas Tech quarterback position would look if Mahomes had redshirted as a freshman and Webb would have stayed in the program through 2017.  Mahomes would have been the starting quarterback for the first time in 2017, when Texas Tech had a representative defense for the first time in his career.  Plus, he would likely be the starting quarterback this fall as one year of success would not have been enough to send him to the NFL early.

Think of how different the vibe around the Texas Tech football program would be this summer if Pat Mahomes were still on the roster and preparing for his senior season.