Texas Tech football adds 2020 DE L.B. Moore from Amarillo

Wednesday, the Texas Tech football program added Amarillo defensive end L.B. Moore from Tascosa High School in Amarillo.

Matt Wells and the Texas Tech football program continue to add top West Texas talent to the program.  A day after receiving a pledge from Wellington tight end John Holcomb, the Red Raiders landed a commitment from Amarillo defensive end L.B. Moore.

Both were among the five local prospects we recently discussed as targets the program should prioritize and now both are on board with the Red Raiders.

Moore is rated by the 247Sports composite rankings as a 3-star recruit who is the No. 127 player in Texas and the No. 37 weakside defensive end in the nation. In addition to Tech, he holds offers from the likes of Baylor, Kansas, Purdue, Tulsa, and Air Force.  He had also been drawing serious interest from the Texas Longhorns in recent weeks making this an even more important addition to the program.

https://twitter.com/LBMoore14/status/1156708984809807873?s=20

The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder registered 85 tackles (16 for loss), six sacks, and two fumble recoveries last year.  But according to “Inside the Red Raiders” a torn pectoral muscle suffered in the spring could cause him to miss a game or two at the start of this season.  And apparently the support he received from the Texas Tech coaching staff after his injury was meaningful to him.

"“(I chose Tech) because they stay true to their word and stuck around after my injury,” Moore told Jarrett Jonshon. “They said they were gonna stick no matter what happens to me and after I hurt myself they where there to check up on me before and after surgery.”"

Edge rushes of Moore’s size are going to be key for new defensive coordinator Keith Patterson.  In his 3-3-5 system, players athletic enough to play multiple roles are going to be invaluable.

Moore could be a traditional defensive end while also providing some pass rush from the outside linebacker spot.  This year, we anticipate seeing senior defensive end Lonzell Gilmore fulfilling that role after playing a standard defensive end role his entire Red Raider career.

There are currently 14 players in Texas Tech’s recruiting class, more than half the schools in the Big 12.   But the class ranks only seventh in the conference ahead of TCU, West Virginia, and Baylor.

Moore is the sixth-highest ranked player in Tech’s class thus far and the highest-ranked defensive recruit the Red Raiders have landed in this recruiting cycle.  And he is the second defensive end in the class joining Clinton Anokwuru, a 3-star recruit from Richmond, TX.

As far as West Texas talent is concerned, Moore is the third player from the region in Tech’s class joining Holcomb and Donovan Smith, the Q.B. at Frenship H.S. in Wolfforth, who is the son of Red Raider running backs coach DeAndre Smith.  Though calling Smith a West Texas prospect is a tad misleading given that he only moved to Wolfforth from Las Vegas after his father joined Matt Wells’ staff.

It is exciting to see Wells place an emphasis on keeping local talent close to home.  In the 2019 class, he added offensive tackles Trevor Roberson from Wellington and Landon Peterson from Odessa as well as QB Maverick McIvor from San Angelo.

For decades, Tech has seen West Texas players form the backbone of the program and it appears that Wells is attempting to continue that tradition.  By keeping players like L.B. Moore from getting away, Wells is taking an important step towards helping Texas Tech regain the dominance it once had in its own back yard.