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

No. 5: Dominique Wheeler

It hasn’t been just the defensive tackles that have proven to be top 10 disasters for Tech.  Wide receivers have also been a problem as was the case with Dominique Wheeler, the fifth-best player to ever sign with Tech.

Rated at a 0.9425 in 2012, the Crockett, Texas product was the No. 149 player in the nation and No. 20 prospect in Texas.  He held offers from the likes of Baylor, Auburn, TCU, Texas, and A&M.

But once he stepped on campus. the 6-foot-2 target was quick to show that he wasn’t ready for life in the Big 12.  And by the end of his freshman season, many were concerned about his lack of progress because he couldn’t crack the two-deep roster.

His Red Raider career consisted of just one game in 2013 when he appeared on special teams.  After the 2014 season, he left the program having been just a scout team player in his three years in Lubbock.

This recruiting miss proved to be a huge problem for the Red Raiders because the receiving corps needed Wheeler to be a lead dog since he was one of just two receivers to sign in that class. Instead, Reginald Davis was the only receiver from the class of 2012 that ever amounted to anything (Tech also signed JUCO target Javon Bell, who was another high-profile bust in that class) and the Red Raiders had to scramble at that position for the first couple of years of the Kingsbury era.