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Texas Tech football: Positions that need JUCO or grad transfer reinforcements

By Matthew Conner

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - OCTOBER 26: Ta'Zhawn Henry #26 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders carries the ball during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Memorial Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - OCTOBER 26: Ta'Zhawn Henry #26 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders carries the ball during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Memorial Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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SaRodorick Thompson #28 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
SaRodorick Thompson #28 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

RB must add depth

There’s no position on the field that takes a pounding quite the way running backs do.  That’s why, the Red Raiders finished the year with only one scholarship RB, SaRodorick Thompson, on the field against Texas.  Shyne missed the final four games of the year with broken ribs and a Ta’Zhawn Henry was also limited down the stretch by a lower-body injury, which forced him to miss the last two games.

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Against Kansas State, Thompson had to play every snap of the game and that’s a situation that Tech simply can’t afford to arise again in 2020.  But the problem is that the 2019 class was devoid of a running back signing.

Tech may petition the NCAA to grant Shyne a medical redshirt year which would be a huge development because when he was healthy, the California native was effective as he averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

The good news is that Tech has a very promising RB committed in Tahj Brooks, who at 5-foot-9 and 212 pounds is already big enough to play at the FCS level.  But if Shyne doesn’t get an extra year, or even perhaps if he does, Tech will want to add more talent at this critical spot.

If there is a spot on the field where players seem to make a more immediate impact after transferring, it is ofter at RB.  That’s because schemes and principles for running backs don’t vary from scheme to scheme all that much outside of blitz pickup duties.  Once an RB has the ball in his hands, his instincts take over and he runs to daylight, regardless of the system.

This will almost certainly be a two running back class for the Red Raiders.  That’s a given with how thin the ranks are at that spot.  Just how the Red Raiders approach it will likely depend on whether or not they believe Shyne will be back for another year.

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