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Texas Tech football: Ranking our confidence in each offensive position group

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Quarterback Jett Duffey #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders hands the ball to running back Ta'Zhawn Henry #26 during the first half of the college football game against the TCU Horned Frogs on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Quarterback Jett Duffey #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders hands the ball to running back Ta'Zhawn Henry #26 during the first half of the college football game against the TCU Horned Frogs on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Injured quarterback Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.  (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Injured quarterback Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.  (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

The QBs have major health concerns

It’s never ideal to have your most important position group sit as the one that you have the second-least amount of confidence in but that’s where the 2020 QBs are for me.  However, the good news is that my lack of confidence in them doesn’t stem from their playing ability.

Rather, the reason I score them just a 4.5 out of 5 is that the top two on the depth chart have sustained significant injuries in both of the last two seasons.  That’s not what you want to have in the back of your mind as the season begins.

Presumed starter Alan Bowman missed half of 2018 with two different collapsed lung injuries.  Then last year, a separated shoulder cost him the final nine games on the schedule.

Meanwhile, his backup, Maverick McIvor, has not played a game since the second week of 2018 when, as a high school senior, he blew out his knee.  Last year, he didn’t see the field at all because of a broken foot sustained in the final fall scrimmage.

While we can’t have any confidence in McIvor as a player because we’ve yet to see him throw his first pass, we must be optimistic that if Bowman can stay healthy, he can play at a level that Tech fans have come to expect from our QBs.

In the eight games he’s started and finished, the Grapevine native has averaged 379.3 yards passing.  What’s more, he’s thrown 19 TDs to just 9 picks in those contests.  If you extrapolate those numbers out over the course of a 12-game regular season, it would result in a 4,548-yard, 29 TD, 14-INT season and that’s good enough to get your team back to a bowl game, which is the only goal that matters for Matt Wells’ program this year.

But what if Bowman can’t stay healthy for the third-straight year?  Then the focus turns to a pair of freshmen.  Behind McIvor will be true freshman Donovan Smith from Frienship High School and should either he or McIvor have to assume the starting role, Red Raider fans will lose what little confidence we have in the 2020 QBs.

So I give this group a 4.5 because I’m yet to see that the top two can remain on the field for a full season.  But if they can (especially Bowman), this season might look much different in November than most in July are predicting it will.

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