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Texas Tech football: Early 2021 recruiting targets to watch

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - OCTOBER 19: Jones AT&T Stadium is pictured before the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Iowa State Cyclones on October 19, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - OCTOBER 19: Jones AT&T Stadium is pictured before the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Iowa State Cyclones on October 19, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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General view of an F18 flyover during the National Anthem  (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
General view of an F18 flyover during the National Anthem  (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

OT Jack Tucker

A second player from Argyle, Texas with a 2021 offer from Tech is Jack Tucker.  The 6-foot-6, 265-pound offensive tackle is the No. 81 tackle in the class and the No. 121 player in Texas.

Another attendee at last month’s junior day, Tucker would be a solid addition to the class.  In addition to Tech, he has offers from USC, Ole Miss, Minnesota, Purdue, Baylor, and Washington State.

Tucker looks like a developmental tackle in the sense that he doesn’t have the size to play right away.  But those are the players that this program needs to stock up on so that eventually the JUCO and grad transfer markets are not as heavily utilized to plug holes.

Both 2020 HS offensive line signees, Caleb Rodgers and Larry Moore check-in at 275-pounds or less so they fit into that category as well.  Meanwhile, 2018 tackle Landon Peterson from Odessa weighed just 265 when he arrived.

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The problem is that in each of the last two classes, Tech has taken only two high school linemen and none have had the look of immediate contributors in the mold of Jack Anderson, or both of last year’s starting tackles Travis Bruffy and Terence Steele who played as freshmen.

That’s ok so long as the pipeline continues to bring capable players into the program on an annual basis in order to have a constant stream of developing future starters working their way through the ranks.  But because predicting how high school linemen will develop is so difficult, o-line recruiting truly is a numbers game.

Knowing which 270-plus-pound 17 or 18-year-old kid will be able to develop the type of footwork and agility required to contend with elite pass rushers in the Big 12 is about as difficult of a job as any in the recruiting game.  Unfortunately, Tech has missed on more of those evaluations than it has hit on in recent classes.

This year’s o-line class might be the most critical for the program in quite some time.  That’s a position in transition this offseason and one that also lacks the type of young players that look like good bets to be above-average starters before their careers are over.  Perhaps Tucker can help in that regard should he choose to become a Red Raider.

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