Texas Tech football: Five underrated players from the Kingsbury era

LB Sam Eguavoen was overlooked because he played on some dreadful defenses

Sometimes the nature of football causes us to forget about good players if they are part of poor teams.  That’s the case with former Red Raider linebacker Sam Eguavoen.

From 2011-14, the Garland native racked up 225 tackles (156 solo), an interception, and three fumble recoveries.  That included 70 or more tackles in each of his final two years.

A four-year starter, he had 37 starts to his name as a Red Raider.  As a senior, he earned honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors.

The problem for Eguavoen is that in his career, the defenses he was a part of ranked No. 116, No. 79, and No. 125 in his freshman, junior and senior seasons respectively with the No. 49 ranking his defense had in 2012 being a complete outlier.

What’s more, we never thought we were watching a future NFL linebacker but that’s what Eguavoen proved to be.  Perhaps it’s because he was surrounded by such woeful talent that he couldn’t play to his full potential or maybe he was just a late bloomer.

After three years in the Canadian Football League, Eguavoen caught on with the Miami Dolphins last season.  He was able to register 42 tackles and 3.5 sacks despite playing on one of the worst defenses in the NFL.  But that’s not surprising because that’s what his college career prepared him for.