Texas Tech football: 3 Red Raiders that have been pleasant surprises in 2020

Myles Price

There’s no question that the highlight of Tech’s 2020 signing class was the wide receiver haul that Matt Wells’ and his assistants were able to bring to town.  But while fans were clambering to see 4-star Midland product Loic Fouonji as well as highly-regarded signees Ja’Lynn Polk and J.J. Sparkman, it’s been the other receiver that Tech signed who has made the biggest impact.

No one expected 5-foot-10 Myles Price to be the most impactful true freshman receiver on the roster this year.  After all, he plays a position where it was believed that Tech had three excellent veteran options ahead of him in KeSean Carter, McLane Mannix, and Dalton Rigdon.

But all three of those returning slot receivers have missed at least one game this year opening the door for Price to get some early playing time.  And through four games, he’s made the most of it.

The speedy native of The Colony, Texas has nine receptions for 75 yards and a TD through four games.  That’s on pace for 27 receptions and 225 yards in a normal 12-game season.

While those numbers would not set the world on fire, they would outpace the freshmen productivity of Danny Amendola, Keke Coutee, Eric Morris, and Detron Lewis.  In fact, Price is on a pace that would come close to rivaling what Jakeem Grant did as a true freshman when he caught 32 passes for 284 yards and 3 TDs.

Of the freshmen receivers, Polk actually leads the way in catches (12) and yards (120) but that’s not a surprise given that he was a top-65 recruit in Texas.  And for what it’s worth, Price was no slouch as a recruit as he was the No. 87 player in the state himself.

But given the glut of inside receivers that Tech began the year with and the fact that Price was overshadowed by his fellow 2020 receiver signees, his emergence has been a rather pleasant surprise.  He’s had eight receptions in his last two games combined and he appears to be figuring out how to play the inside receiver position at the Big 12 level.  Thus, by the end of the year, Price could prove to be the steal of the 2020 signing class.