Texas Tech football: The most underrated players of the Tommy Tuberville era

WR/DB Cornelius Douglas

You have to respect former Red Raider Cornelius Douglas for his willingness to do whatever his team asked of him.  A fantastic athlete with excellent speed, he started out at receiver in Lubbock before moving to corner in his final season.

Douglas was always a player that Tech tried to get on the field because he was the best athlete on the team.  But he had awful hands as a receiver.

From 2009-2011, he caught just 53 passes for 572 yards and two scores.  So in the middle of 2012, he was asked to move to corner full-time after moonlighting as a DB since his sophomore year.  That’s how desperate Tech was for quality defensive backs at that time in the program’s history.

In fact, in the most lopsided home loss in program history, a 66-6 thumping at the hands of Oklahoma State in 2011, Douglas was the player that Tech asked to cover two-time Biletnikoff Award-Winner, Justin Blackmon.  It didn’t go well as Blackmon had six catches for 103 yards and two TDs but Douglas’ willingness to compete must be commended.

By his senior year, Douglas was more acclimated to his new position.  He even had two picks in an October win at Iowa State to earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

He also became a bit of a Red Raider legend when he tried to flirt with sideline reporter Leslie McCaslin in that postgame interview.  But while you have to admire his willingness to shoot his shot, what we should admire more is his willingness to do whatever his team needed, including switching sides of the football in the middle of his career.