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Texas Tech football: Players that might surprise in 2020

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - SEPTEMBER 29: The Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on September 29, 2016 at AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 55-19. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - SEPTEMBER 29: The Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on September 29, 2016 at AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 55-19. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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The Texas Tech Red Raiders mascot “Masked Rider” leads the Texas Tech Red Raiders onto the field before the game against the Texas Longhorns on November 5, 2016 at AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas defeated Texas Tech 45-37. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
The Texas Tech Red Raiders mascot “Masked Rider” leads the Texas Tech Red Raiders onto the field before the game against the Texas Longhorns on November 5, 2016 at AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas defeated Texas Tech 45-37. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

OL Josh Burger

Last year, it was redshirt freshman Weston Wright who got a shot to carve out a role for himself on the offensive line after being an unknown to virtually all fans.  This year, that could be the case for grad transfer Josh Burger.

Coming over from Wofford of the FCS, the 6-foot-3, 295-pounder didn’t arrive with much fanfare.  However, he is squarely in the mix for one of the open starting tackle jobs.

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What makes him an intriguing prospect is the fact that he’s played against some of the best competition possible and equipped himself well.  Last year, Wofford took on Clemson and Burger held his own against a Tiger defensive line laden with NFL talent.  Thus, life in the Big 12 shouldn’t be too overwhelming for him.

"“He’s not as tall as some of our guys,” OL coach Steve Farmer said. “But he makes up for that in his quickness. He makes up for that in his ability to use his leverage and run his feet. “He has shown in some of the games we’ve watched to be able to handle some longer athletes, some defensive ends. Clemson’s got a pretty good outfit and he handled those guys at a high level.”"

It appears that Burger is battling senior Zach Adams for the starting left tackle job.  But he could have a bit of an edge being as he’s the only one with experience as a full-time starter.  On the other hand, Wofford runs the triple-option attack so Adams may be a more developed pass blocker at this point.

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The offensive line almost always sustains significant damage during the course of the year.  300-pound men simply tend to get hurt more often than players of smaller stature.  So it seems almost a guarantee that Burger will get his shot to play this year and given the fact that he’s already faced the program that enters the year at No. 1 in the national polls, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find that he’s up to the challenge.

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