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Texas Tech football: 5 most important signees in 2019 class

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - NOVEMBER 14: The Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 14, 2015 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 59-44. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - NOVEMBER 14: The Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 14, 2015 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 59-44. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

No. 1 – DE Gilbert Ibeneme

New Texas Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson wants to play an attacking and aggressive style of defense that puts tons of pressure on the QB.  That will be tough given the construction of the current roster which saw 2018’s two top pass rushers, Kolin Hill and Tony Jones (who combined for nine sacks), exhaust their eligibility after last season.

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That leaves Tech woefully thin at defensive end where no player on the roster has more than 1.5 career sacks outside of junior Eli Howard and his 9.0.  But for most of the 2019 recruiting cycle, Tech looked poised to add three tremendous defensive ends including two 4-star prospects in Gilbert Ibeneme and Stephen Parker.

By now, every Red Raider fan knows that Parker jilted the Red Raiders to sign with Kansas leaving Ibeneme as the top overall signee in the 2019 class and making him easily the Red Raiders’ most important addition.  The 6-foot-3, 255-pound prospect already has the frame to compete at the collegiate level and may see some time in the D-line rotation this fall.

He is the No. 65 player in Texas and the No. 33 strong side defensive end in the nation.  And his large frame may make him a better fit in Patterson’s scheme than Parker.

Tech will empty a 3-3-5 defense next year with only three down linemen meaning the defensive ends need to be heavier because they will play the gap between the offensive guard and tackle instead of playing on the tackle’s outside shoulder. Parker would have needed to add weight to his 220-pound frame to play end or would have had to transition to a hybrid outside linebacker position.

And Tech desperately needs defensive linemen after some lean years at that spot in recent classes.  Tech has signed only one defensive end in the each of the two previous classes making that position a critical area of need in 2019.

Lean 2019 class could have long-lasting ramifications. dark. Next

Though every Red Raider wanted the Lubbock-born Parker to sign with the good guys, Tech is still in decent shape at end in this class.  Ibeneme and 3-star Houston native Tony Bradford Jr. are the most highly-regarded defensive end tandem to sign with Tech in recent memory and both may be needed to contribute early in their careers.

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