Texas Tech football: Red Raiders that have not met expectations thus far

Travis Koontz

It’s hard to understand why Matt Wells and OC David Yost appear to be so obsessed with the tight end position on the recruiting trail.  After all, they don’t use it for much of anything besides being an extra blocker.

That’s why senior Travis Koontz has to be considered a significant disappointment thus far.  He’s caught only six passes for 60 yards and he has failed to make a difference in the offense.

In fact, he’s been so limited as a receiver that true freshman John Holcomb has taken many of the reps from him, especially in obvious passing situations.  It isn’t that Holcomb has been terrific either (four receptions for 30 yards), but the fact that a player who was playing 2A football at this time last year is pushing Koontz for playing time is an indication of just where the program views each player as a weapon in the aerial attack.

To Koontz’s credit, he’s become a tremendous blocker and that’s why he has remained a regular in the Red Raider offense.  However, he was supposed to be more than that in his second year in the program.

We were told during the offseason that he had become bigger and faster and that he was going to take a significant step forward this season.

"“I like the way he’s coming back off of quarantine and through the summer he’s done good work,” Wells said this summer. “You know, Travis is a guy that seems like he is how he should as a second year junior college player in this offense and seems more confident in what he’s doing and I think he’ll be a good player for us.”"

Remember that Koontz was the No. 2 JUCO TE in the nation when he signed with Tech in the class of 2019.  What’s more, he was the first player to commit to Wells after he was hired.

So why hasn’t he done more?  Could it be that the offense just doesn’t feature tight ends all that much?  After all, even All-Mountain West Conference tight end Dax Raymond never had more than 456 yards receiving when playing for David Yost.  Could it be that Alan Bowman simply wasn’t looking Koontz’s way?  Or is it that he just isn’t the caliber of player that Red Raider fans expected him to be based on his pedigree and the messages we were given over the summer?

Whatever the reason may be, he isn’t playing to the level that we expected.  Prior to the season, I thought he could emerge as an all-conference caliber player but now, that appears to be a ridiculous premise.  Rather, I’m at the point where I’d rather see Tech go back to two slot receiver sets that we are accustomed to given how little this offense has gotten from Koontz and the rest of the tight ends on the roster.