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Texas Tech football: The incredible miss rate of Tech’s top 10 all-time recruits

By Matthew Conner

BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 08: Breiden Fehoko #91 of the LSU Tigers celebrates a sack during the first half against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at Tiger Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 08: Breiden Fehoko #91 of the LSU Tigers celebrates a sack during the first half against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at Tiger Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Linebacker Dominique Alexander #42 of the Oklahoma Sooners tries to take down tight end Jace Amaro #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
Linebacker Dominique Alexander #42 of the Oklahoma Sooners tries to take down tight end Jace Amaro #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

As thousands of high school football players sign their letters of intent today, Texas Tech football fans might be stunned to learn about the unbelievable miss rate among the program’s all-time top 10 signees.

Today is the day that the dreams of many high school football prospects come true as they sign their letters of intent marking the end of one journey and the beginning of another.  It is also a day that fans look forward to almost as eagerly because it is when our favorite programs begin to lay the foundation for what we hope is a bright future.  Texas Tech football fans are no different but what is a bit strange about our beloved program is that the overwhelming majority of the top 10 players to ever sign with the Red Raiders have proven to be busts.

For this discussion, we will be using the 247Sports ranking of the all-time best Texas Tech recruits.  And as we look at the top 10, we find only four that proved to be multi-year starters.  What’s more, only three ever proved to be all-Big 12 honorees.

A current Red Raider, Jack Anderson, is the No. 2 all-time recruit in Tech history and he’s lived up to the billing so far.  A starter for all 25 games of his career until his 2019 season was cut short by injury, the Frisco, Texas native was a 4-star signee in 2017 and had a rating of 0.9628.

A freshman All-American two seasons ago and a second-team All-Big 12 honoree in 2018, he’s been one of the best offensive linemen to ever play for the program almost since the day he stepped foot on campus.  Fortunately, just this weekend, he announced that he will be returning to Lubbock for the 2020 season instead of heading to the NFL.

To find the next top 10 Tech recruit to live up his billing, we have to look at Jace Amaro, who sits at No. 6 on the list.  A 4-star signee with a rating of 0.9408 in 2011, he saw his sophomore year interrupted by a lacerated spleen but he returned in 2013 to catch 106 passes for 1,352 yards and 7 touchdowns before leaving school a year early for the NFL.

The No. 8 all-time Red Raider signee is Reginald Davis.  The Tenaha, Texas native was rated at 0.9314 but he never lived up to the billing of his 4-star pedigree.  From 2013-16, he caught 97 passes for 1,301 yards and 18 touchdowns so it would be unfair to call him a bust but he most definitely did not perform like a top 10 all-time recruit for any program would be expected to.

Finally, at No. 9 we have the most accomplished quarterback in Texas Tech football history, Graham Harrell.  Our of Ennis, Texas, he was rated at 0.9222 in 2004 and Red Raider fans need not be told how his career played out.

But the rest of the top 10 recruits to ever fax their letters of intent to the Red Raiders proved to be massive disappointments.  Let’s take a look at these players who helped teach us the hard way that stars only matter on signing day and not on Saturdays in the fall.

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