Texas Tech football: Players that benefitted from the abbreviated spring

Head coach Matt Wells of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

In the turbulent 2020 offseason, there was an abbreviated spring practice session and these Texas Tech football players may actually be better off because of it.

Sometimes what seems like negative can work out in one’s favor.  That might be the case for some members of the Texas Tech football program as they might have actually benefitted from a shortened spring practice period.

Typically, teams are allowed to have 15 practice sessions each spring, including one official spring game.  But this year, the Red Raiders were able to hold just four practices before the coronavirus pandemic shut the world down.

Now, we are looking at a summer where athletes are able to return to campus for the first time since March.  But the summer workouts are not going to be as beneficial as full team practices would be.

The loss of those eleven extra practices is going to be crucial for players of all types.  First of all, there are players coming back from injury.  Then there are the Red Raiders who are changing positions.  Also, newcomers need the spring to prove their place on the roster.  Finally, upperclassmen who have yet to become regular contributors in their careers often make statements in the spring about their readiness to be starters after years of waiting their turn.

But spring practices are also a time when it seems like something is going to go wrong.  Most common are injuries and off-field issues.  We’ve seen plenty of each in recent springs.

Of course, suspensions have been commonplace among the Red Raiders with the Jett Duffey arrest and suspension in 2018 being the most notable.

Meanwhile, a less notable issue happened last spring involving an injury.  In spring practice, senior receiver Seth Collins shattered his collarbone and that injury caused him to miss the entire season.  That was a worst-case scenario example of how a spring injury can impact a player’s entire season despite having several months to heal.

So let’s take a look at some players who were able to benefit from an abbreviated spring.  For some, it was an opportunity to stay fresh physically and for others, it prevented challengers from potentially taking their job.  But for all, the lack of a spring might have been the best development for their careers.