Texas Tech football: Where Red Raiders need transfer help after NSD

Texas Tech could possibly be in the market for two new starting safeties

The Texas Tech pass defense was an utter disaster in 2019 despite the fact that Douglas Coleman was among the national leaders with eight interceptions.  But with Coleman now out of eligibility and junior-to-be Adrian Frye proving to be the worst player on last year’s defense after moving to safety from corner, don’t be surprised to see Wells and Co. add a pair of transfers to form the last line of resistance on the 2020 defense.

It would make sense to move Frye back to corner where he was a freshman All-American and first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2018 with five interceptions and 13 pass breakups.  The problem is that there are no reliable or proven safeties on the current roster.

Junior Thomas Leggett is a willing tackler who plays the run well but is a liability in coverage.  Senior Ja’Marcus Ingram started at Utah State before transferring to Tech last fall but even with Frye’s struggles, he couldn’t get on the field unless there was an injury ahead of him.

Junior Adam Beck emerged later in the season but he looks to be a better fit in the “spur” position, which is a combo safety/linebacker role that will allow him to fly all over the field and make tackles.  He is another player that doesn’t seem to be as strong against the pass as one would want a true safety to be.

In the 2019 class, Tech added only two defensive backs, Alex Hogan and Dadrion Taylor, both of whom saw some action at corner in their freshman seasons. In 2020, the only safety to sign with Tech was 3-star prospect Kobee Minor who doesn’t seem like a walk-in starter.

The 2019 defense allowed the third-most passing yards in the country, 288.3 per game.  If that is going to improve, the Red Raiders will likely have to supplement the roster with at least one, but preferably two, safeties.