Texas Tech football: 5 most important signees in 2019 class

No. 5 – TE Travis Koontz

Texas Tech’s offense is going to look a bit different next season.  New offensive coordinator David Yost will still employ the spread offense that we all know and love, but his version will take one of the typical smaller inside receivers like Cam Batson, Keke Coutee or Jakeem Grant off the field and replace him with a true tight end.

Because of that, the new coaching staff had to find a tight end ready to play right away.   The 2018 roster lacked such a player and 2019 high school signee Simon Gonzalez of Magnolia, TX is not physically ready to man that position this fall.  That’s why landing JUCO tight end Travis Koontz was a huge win for Matt Wells and his assistants.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder from Ventura College in California was the first player Wells offered after taking the Texas Tech job and signed his letter of intent in December.  In his two seasons of JUCO football, Koontz put up modest numbers as a receiver with 27 receptions for 312 yards and three touchdowns but he will likely see more passes come his way with the Red Raiders.

But it will be in the ground game where Koontz could make the biggest impact.  As we know, Tech struggled mightily when trying to run the ball in 2018, especially in the final month of the season.  Overall, Tech ran for just 118.2 yards per game, fewest in the Big 12 and was led in rushing by backup QB Jett Duffey.

But Koontz will add a sixth physical blocker to the ground game next fall.  He should be able to help open more room for Tech’s running backs and will be a key matchup problem that Yost will look to exploit in both aspects of the offense.

If Tech would not have been able to land the No. 2 JUCO tight end in the 2019 class, Yost likely would have had to rely on converted receiver Donta Thompson, who is not an effective blocker and fullback Tyler Carr, who is not a receiving threat, to split duties at tight end.  But that would have tipped off the defense as Yost would have had to sub in and out depending on the situation.  Fortunately, Koontz will allow Tech’s new OC to implement his scheme just as he would like, with a true dual-threat tight end.