Texas Tech football: 5 best defensive players Red Raiders face in 2019

Oklahoma DT Neville Gallimore

When Tech travels to Norman in the fourth game of the yar, they will have to contend with one of the nation’s most dominant physical specimens.  Sooner defensive tackle Neville Gallimore was recently named No. 2 on Bruce Feldman’s annual freaks list, which he published this week on The Athletic.

"“He’s down to 305 pounds from 330″ Feldman writes.  “but he bench presses 500 pounds and squats 800. He cleans 405. The most impressive number of all is that he clocked a 4.76 in the 40. The fastest 300-pounder at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine—303-pound Quinnen Williams—ran a 4.83, which is remarkable.”"

That freakish athleticism allowed him to register 50 tackles (5.5 for loss) and three sacks last year as a sophomore.  He also forced two fumbles in a season that saw him garner honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.

But Tech fans might not know much about him given that he registered just one tackle last year when the Sooners came to Lubbock.  However, that one tackle was a sack.

The 6-foot-2, 320-pounder has unusually quick hands that allow him to collapse the pocket and pressure the passer.  However, he tends to over-rely on his strength and has yet to develop an array of pass-rush moves, making him a bit easier to block because of his predictability.

As a run-stopper, he is tougher to handle because he plays with excellent leverage and uses his lower body strength to hold his ground.   Like Lima, he will pose a challenge for whoever Tech decided to go with at center.

Last year, OU had the worst defense in the Big 12.  But against the run, they were middle of the pack ranking 6th by allowing 159 yards per game.  The Red Raiders managed only 108 on the ground against them as OU doubled down on stopping the run with Alan Bowman knocked out of the game at the end of the first half.

This year, OU will probably see more teams try to run on them because perhaps the only way to stop the Sooner offense might be to keep the ball away from them.  What’s more, with new coaches in the conference, like Wells and KU’s Les Miles, certain to emphasize the run more heavily, there will be more teams in the Big 12 looking to bring physicality back to their offensive attacks.

That will mean Gallimore will have to be on the field more this year than he was last year when his conditioning often prevented him from playing entire drives.  But if he is able to improve his cardiovascular ability and stay in the middle of the Sooner defensive line, he could prove to be one of the more dominant players the Red Raiders will see this fall.