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Texas Tech football: 2020 commits that Red Raiders could have used this year

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Texas Tech Red Rainders mascot the Masked Rider leads the team onto the field before the college football game against the TCU Horned Frogs on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Texas Tech Red Rainders mascot the Masked Rider leads the team onto the field before the college football game against the TCU Horned Frogs on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

6-foot-4, 255-pound DE Philip Blidi

One area where Tech has been vulnerable has been along the defensive line.  The starters have been solid but inevitably, they wear down each week as the game progresses.

Players like Nelson Mbanasour and Tony Bradford Jr. have been the second wave of depth at defensive end but Tech could certainly have used more, especially at Kansas where both were banged up and unable to give their team much of anything.

So though he isn’t one of Tech’s highest-rated recruits in 2020, Portales, NM defensive end Philip Blidi would have been a nice piece to add to this year’s rotation.  With 80 tackles, eight for loss, the No. 2 player in New Mexico and the No. 34 strongside DE in the nation is already big enough to play at the college level at 255 pounds.

A 3-star player, Blidi is the classic under-the-radar prospect.  Living in a group foster home in Portales, he lacks the type of financial resources to travel to elite scouting events and that likely has prevented him from being more highly-recruited.

In fact, Tech fist found out about him when he gained notoriety as one of New Mexico’s top throwers in track and field.  But his future is on the gridiron in Lubbock.

He will likely develop into a player like Mbanasor, who at 280 pounds, has the size to play along the entire defensive line.  That’s what this program needs long-term but this year, they could have used another capable end.

Junior DE Eli Howard is not healthy.  In fact, he practices only sparingly during the week and when he’s able to make it through an entire game, it’s a testament to his toughness as he’s playing through more injuries than we will ever probably know.

Along with Broderick Washington, Howard gives Tech two quality ends but they have been asked to shoulder too much of the load this year, especially when Bradford and Mbanasor have been unavailable. That’s where Blidid could have been a huge help.

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