Texas Tech football adds 2019 JUCO LB Kosi Eldridge

Tuesday, the Texas Tech football program picked up a commitment from JUCO linebacker Kosi Eldridge, the second player to commit to the Red Raiders in the past week.

It appears that Matt Wells’ Texas Tech football program is beginning to pick up a bit of momentum on the recruiting trail as the crucial summer months arrive.  Tuesday, the Red Raiders picked up their second commitment in the last four days when JUCO linebacker Kosi Eldridge announced his intention to join the Red Raiders.

Eldridge, a 2019 prospect who will join the program this summer, is a 6-foot-1, 210-pound outside linebacker from Kilgore Junior College.  The native of Denton, Texas has three years of eligibility remaining after playing just one year at Kilgore.

In addition to Tech, his only other offer was from offer from North Texas.  But while he is a rather under-the-radar prospect, in his senior season at Denton Ryan High School, he was extremely productive registering 183 tackles and four sacks while recovering three fumbles in 2018.

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It looks like new defensive coordinator Keith Patterson is looking at a different type of player at outside linebacker than we have come to expect.  At just 210-pounds, Eldridge fits the mold of a smaller, potentially more agile outside LB who may have the athleticism to do a little bit of everything on the field, including rush the passer and cover slot receivers or running backs.

Eldridge is virtually the same size as grad transfer Evan Rambo from Cal who joined the program last month and could also fit in Patterson’s OLB scheme.  Though the Red Raiders are in great shape at middle linebacker where senior Jordyn Brooks and junior Riko Jeffers will form one of the best interior LB duos in the Big 12, they are looking for answers at Patterson’s new outside LB hybrid position where there is not obvious fit on the roster.

This will be a position that is similar to what Tony Jones filled in the last two years as he recorded eight career sacks and 70 tackles after transferring in from the JUCO ranks.  And if Patterson’s defense is going to be effective next year, he will have to find someone who can pressure the QB off the edge, an area in which Tech has seemingly always struggled.

Interestingly, Eldridge is the only outside linebacker Tech has added in the 2019 class.  Prior to his commitment, the only other linebackers to sign with Tech this year were Tyrique Matthews (5-10, 200-pounds) from Houston and Bryce Robinson (6-foot, 239-pounds) from Sachse, both of whom are slotted to play in the middle of the defense.

But it is obvious that Wells and his staff are still trying to mine the JUCO and grad transfer ranks to help supplement a 2019 class that was rather uninspiring after numerous players jumped ship when Kliff Kingsbury was fired.  Though the 2020 class is going to be the first true measure of what Wells can do on the recruiting front, he is apparently still trying to salvage something from the 2019 class and it would not be surprising to see more players of a similar caliber to Kosi Eldridge added to the Red Raider roster in the upcoming weeks.