Texas Tech football: Matt Wells tries to bridge roster gap with grad transfers

WR – Reginald Turner II; Louisiana-Monroe

Monday, Tech added Reginald Turner II to the roster.  A 6-foot-2, 204-pound wide receiver, Turner hauled in 90 passes for 1,662 yards and 10 touchdowns in his three-year career at Louisiana-Monroe..

This is an intriguing prospect who could prove to be a weapon in the Red Raider passing game this fall.  Over the course of his career at ULM, he averaged 17.2 yards per reception and such big-play ability would be welcome on a Texas Tech offense looking to replace 2018 All-Big 12 receiver Antoine Wesley, who made big plays in his sleep.

https://twitter.com/Rturner_II/status/1125468212618039297

At first glance, it might seem like adding an outside receiver is not necessary given that Tech will have T.J. Vasher returning after a 687-yard, 7-touchdown season on one side of the formation and redshirt freshman and former 4-star recruit Erik Ezukanma set to start at the other wide out.

What’s more, redshirt freshman Myllar Royals has impressed his new coaches this spring and looks to be the backup to Vasher while senior Seth Collins, himself an experienced outside receiver, will be backing up Ezukanma (if he does not win the starting job in fall camp).  But considering that Vasher has been plagued by injuries at times in his career and both Ezukanma and Royals are unproven at the college level, having a player the caliber of Turner is a nice insurance policy.

Texas Tech figures to run the ball more next season than it has since the Spike Dykes era as new OC David Yost actually ran the ball more than he threw it last season at Utah State.  So it will be interesting to see how deep Yost goes with his receiver rotation on Saturdays.  But there is a chance that injuries may press some players further down the depth chart into action.  And should that arise, there could be far worse options than a player with the pedigree of Reginald Turner.