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Texas Tech football: The five best players on Red Raiders’ roster

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - NOVEMBER 03: Texas Tech Red Raider mascot "Raider Red" fires his pistols during ceremonies before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners on November 3, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech 51-46. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - NOVEMBER 03: Texas Tech Red Raider mascot "Raider Red" fires his pistols during ceremonies before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners on November 3, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech 51-46. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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Offensive lineman Jack Anderson #56 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Offensive lineman Jack Anderson #56 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

No. 1: G Jack Anderson

If it feels strange to enter a year believing that the best weapon on the offense is a running back, it is twice as strange to know that the best player on the roster is a right guard.  After all, how much can an interior lineman impact a game individually?  But regardless of whether or not it is ideal to have a team’s best player be a guard, having a player of Jack Anderson’s ability on the line is never something to be taken for granted.

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Many believed that the Frisco native would take his talents to the NFL this offseason but after he missed the final eight games of the year with a chest injury, his stock fell some and he’s decided to come back for another year.  That’s great news for a Red Raider team that lost three starters from last year’s line.

Anderson will likely be Tech’s only first-team preseason All-BIg 12 selection this summer (though his injury last year might mean he’s fallen out of mind for some voters) and he’s the only player on the 2020 roster that we can be certain has an NFL future.  What’s more, he should team up with his former high school teammate, center Dawson Deaton, and sophomore Weston Wright to give Tech a solid interior of the line.  (Wright played well in Anderson’s place last fall.)

According to 247Sports.com, Anderson remains the second-highest ranked player to ever sign with Tech when he inked his letter of intent in 2017.  As a freshman, he earned freshman All-American honors after starting every game and in 2018, he was named to the Big 12 all-conference second team after again starting ever game.

If we are to believe that Anderson and Thompson are the best players on the Red Raider offense, might we see somewhat of a change in how Yost calls his offense next year?  Will he try to be more physical and run the ball between the tackles, especially given that he will be starting two new tackles and will need to find a way to keep Bowman upright for 12 games?

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If that is indeed the case, maybe it makes the fact that Tech’s best player is its right guard somewhat easier to swallow.  If the Red Raiders are wise, they will try to get as much out of Jack Anderson as they can and let him pave the way for a big season by SaRodorick Thompson and then let the passing game play off of that.  There’s no question that would be a different way to play offense then we’ve seen for quite some time in Lubbock.

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