Texas Tech football: Position groups to watch vs. Montana State
Who will become the next star WR for the Red Raiders?
It is hard to remember a season in which Tech has had so many questions at receiver to begin the year. When Tech takes the field Saturday, three of last year’s top four pass-catchers will not be on the field. Antoine Wesley and Ja’Deion High have exhausted their eligibility and senior Seth Collins is injured.
There is plenty to look forward to from this group, starting with junior T.J. Vasher. The former 4-star signee needs to step forward and be the leader for this position group. After all, he is the leading returning pass-catcher on the team after his 687-yard, 7-touchdown sophomore season.
Watch to see how well he does the little things like block downfield, makes routine catches, runs crisp routes and all the other facets of the position he must master in order to take his game to the level that his physical talent suggests it can reach. It is time for Vasher to finally become the man and have an impact on the offense on a weekly basis.
Opposite him, everyone wants to watch redshirt freshman Erik Ezukanma, who has been the talk of the offseason. Also a former 4-star signee, the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is being discussed as a possible all-American type player. He’s a long way from that but let’s see this week how he performs in his first career start.
He’s made just two career receptions but one went for a 44-yard garbage-time touchdown in week two last year against FCS weakling Lamar. Now that he will be a focal point of the offense, let’s see if his performance matches the hype.
On the inside, another 3-way race is shaping up with junior transfer McLane Mannix, sophomore Dalton Rigdon, and JUCO transfer Xavier White all set to see the field. This is one of the most productive positions in the offense and hopefully this week, at least one of these three players begins to establish himself as a legitimate threat.
We don’t normally enter a season looking at the receiving corps as a potential weakness as some are labeling it this year. The problem is not a lack of talent but a lack of proven productivity (especially productivity while at Tech). But because there is a stable full of exciting options, it seems unlikely that we will consider the Red Raider receivers a weakness for long.