Texas Tech football picks up verbal from 3-star OL Larry Moore

3-star offensive lineman Larry Moore has verbally committed to the Texas Tech football program.

One of the six players to verbally commit to the Texas Tech football program on Saturday was Larry Moore, a 3-star offensive lineman from Ft. Bend, Texas.  He made his decision known Sunday morning via Twitter.

Rated the No. 99 offensive tackle in the nation for the class of 2020, Moore is the No. 163 player in Texas according to 247Sports.com.  In addition to Texas Tech, he holds offers from such schools as Kansas, Colorado State, Georgia Tech, Houston, SMU and Utah State among others.

At 6-foot-5, 275-pounds, Moore certainly has the frame to play tackle but he will need to add some weight before he can withstand the demands of Big 12 football.  Still, his commitment is crucial because it helps reinforce one of the more concerning position groups on the current roster.

This fall, Tech will start two senior tackles in Travis Bruffy and Terence Steele, who have swapped sides of the formation under the new coaching staff with Bruffy moving to right tackle and Steele taking over duties at the critical left tackle spot, where he will be charged with protecting the blind side of QB Alan Bowman.  But after this season, the picture at tackle becomes rather murky for the Red Raiders.

6-foot-5, 320-pound sophomore Will Farrar is currently the backup at right tackle.  The former 3-star recruit in 2017 held offers from some impressive programs such as Oklahoma State, LSU, Texas, USC, Washington, West Virginia and Miami. But he’s yet to make a start in college having appeared in only four career games.

After Farrar, there appears to be no ready-made solution for 2020 (if you consider Farrar worthy of that label himself).  In fact, last season’s post fall camp depth chart listed redshirt freshman Dawson Deaton, an interior lineman by trade, as the backup at left tackle.  Deaton is a fantastic young lineman but he is expected to challenge for the starting center position this year and his future with the program appears to be as either a center or a guard.

More from Wreck'Em Red

• Texas Tech football: Red Raider fans need to know about these Mountaineers
• Texas Tech football: Red Raiders land first commit for class of 2025
• Texas Tech football: Why have the Red Raiders struggled on the road under McGuire?
• Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders can compete for a Big 12 title
• Texas Tech football: Plenty of questions remain as conference play arrives

As for the other options on the roster, they are not inspiring.  Junior Zach Adams has yet to start a game as a Red Raider and missed all of last year with an injury.  The only other veteran tackle with the size and potential pedigree to suggest hat he could be a contributor is sophomore Casey Verhulst who has yet to rise above the level of the scout team in his two years on campus.

There is quite a bit of hope among the fan base that 2019 signee Trevor Roberson will be able to man one of the tackle positions next year.  That hype is a result of the fact that the Wellington, TX native is a physical specimen at nearly 7-feet-tall and 345-pounds.  But that size and the fact that he played at a 2A high school makes one think that he is a rather raw product who will have to develop tremendously this year if he is going to be ready to start in 2020.

Meanwhile, Tech also signed Landon Peterson this year.  The 3-star prospect from Odessa was the No. 66 OL in the nation but at just 256-pounds, he will need to add some serious bulk to compete for a job next fall.

In the world of college football recruiting, offensive linemen are the biggest gamble.  Projecting whether 275 to 300-pound 18-year-old kids will develop into the caliber of athletes capable of playing at a high level in college is almost impossible.  Plus, the majority of elite high school offensive line prospects can get by solely on their physical dominance before arriving at the collegiate level making it tough to evaluate their technique and footwork, skills that are often underdeveloped in the high school ranks.

That’s why it is critical for the Red Raiders to bring in a full offensive line class every year.  Playing the numbers game is the best way to continually replenish a position group that seems to suffer more attrition than any other on the field because larger bodies are more likely to break down under stress.

Moore becomes the second offensive lineman to join the 2020 Red Raider recruiting class.  Last month, Caleb Rogers, a 3-star prospect from Mansfield, TX became the second member of the current class.

With Moore’s commitment, the Red Raiders’ class is up to No. 54 overall in the nation.  With 9 players on board, the class is also no longer the smallest in the Big 12.  However, it still ranks 10th in the league according to 247Sports.  But if this weekend is any indication, Matt Wells and his staff are not going let the class stay at the bottom of the Big 12 for long.