Texas Tech football: The most underrated players of the Mike Leach era

DE Keunta Dawson

Though he was briefly mentioned earlier in this piece as we talked about some of the stars of the Leach era, Keyunta Dawson doesn’t get the notoriety he deserves.  When we discuss the best defensive linemen of the 2000s, knowledgeable Texas Tech football fans will remember fondly the work of Aaron Hunt and Adell Ducket who sit No. 1 and No. 2 respectively on the program’s all-time sacks list.

But would even the more astute portions of the fan base quickly come up with Dawson’s name when rattling off the best defenders in program history?  Likely not and that’s a shame.

The Shreveport, LA native was a Red Raider from 2003-06 before embarking on a seven-year NFL career.  At Tech, he recorded 19.5 sacks, sixth in program history.  In addition, he registered 165 tackles in his career with more than 60 in each of his final two seasons.

Incredibly consistent throughout his tenure, he never had a huge season but he was always a factor.  The only year he didn’t have at least 4.5 sacks (which was his total as a true freshman) was his junior year when he got to the QB 2.5 times.

A second-team All-Big 12 honoree as both a junior and senior, the 6-foot-2, 260-pounder was the type of presence that every program would like to have on the defensive line.  Key Dawson wasn’t the type of monster at the line of scrimmage that all-time Red Raider greats like Gabe Rivera or Montae Reagor were but he was a fantastic player who was part of some excellent teams during the Mike Leach years.