Texas Tech football: Red Raiders frontrunners for versatile Alabama transfer

It is being reported that the Texas Tech football program is one of two frontrunners for Alabama transfer WR Chadarius Townsend.

For two decades, Lubbock has been home to some of the best wide receivers in the nation.  Now, it is being reported that another potential star WR could be joining the Texas Tech football program through the transfer portal.

Wide receiver Chadarius Townsend has announced his intention to leave Alabama and Texas Tech is being mentioned by at least one credible source as a frontrunner to land him.  In fact, according to Clint Lamb, who covers the Crimson Tide for USA Today Sports, Tech and Mississippi State are the two teams considered to be in the lead.

Don’t forget that the Bulldogs are now being coached by former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach thus giving this recruiting battle an intriguing plot point.  And it’s easy to see why Townsend is going to be so highly coveted.

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Coming out of high school in the class of 2017, the 6-foot, 190-pounder was rated the No. 211 player in the nation and the No. 10 athlete in his class by 247Sports.   His offer list included Bama, Florida, Kentucky, Auburn, and Mississippi State.

But after redshirting in 2017, the Alabama native was just a special team’s player in 2018 and saw little action in the offense in 2019.  Last fall, his only statistics were eight carries for 22 yards.

As you can imagine, there is plenty of competition at receiver in Tuscaloosa with recent first-round NFL Draft picks such as Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, and Calvin Ridley all coming through the Crimson Tide program during Townsend’s time at Bama.

But, should he come to Lubbock, he will have some significant competition to beat out as well.  Tech has sophomore Erik Ezukanma set to start this fall after an impressive redshirt freshman season in which he led the team in yards with 664.  Four-year starter T.J. Vasher also returns and is expected to have his best season yet.  And in the class of 2019, Matt Wells brought in two prime WR prospects in 4-star Loic Fouonji from Midland and 3-star Ja’Lynn Polk from Lufkin, both of whom are expected to compete for immediate playing time.

One important factor to keep in mind is that Townsend spent time at RB and DB over the last two years as well as at receiver.  Thus, it is fair to wonder if Tech envisions him as a potential answer for a pair of woefully thin positions.

Being as he is a grad transfer, could Townsend become the third running back that Tech needs as we head into the 2020 season?  Wells has recently said that he wants to add another RB this summer given that he has only two scholarship RBs on the roster right now.  Therefore, it would not be a surprise to see Townsend wind up in the backfield should he call the Hub City home.

Also, Tech is always looking for quality corners because in the Big 12, there’s no such thing as too many defensive backs.  But in 2020, the Red Raiders are in better shape at that spot with Zech McPhearson, Adrian Frye, Alex Hogan, and DaMarcus Fields returning.  Still, Townsend has also lined up a corner for the Tide and he could be a possible DB in Lubbock on a full-time basis.

But regardless of how Tech would eventually deploy Townsend, this is the type of athlete that Wells’ program needs more of if it wants to compete near the top of the Big 12.  The key is to simply get him on the roster and then figure out where he can best help.