Texas Tech football: 2021 signees that could play as true freshmen

Behren Morton could be the Texas Tech football program’s starting QB from day one

The greatest endeavor that this program has to undertake this offseason is finding its quarterback of the future.  Until that happens, Tech’s fortunes are not going to improve.  What’s more, if Matt Wells doesn’t get this decision right, he’s going to be looking for new employment a year from now.

Based on what we saw from the QBs on the roster this year, Tech has to have a full QB competition this offseason because neither Alan Bowman nor Henry Colombi was able to prove capable of being the answer.  Some feel that 2020 signee Donovan Smith, who missed the entire season with an injury, could factor into this equation but so too could 2021 signee Behren Morton.

The Eastland, Texas QB is going to be on campus for spring football and he will have every opportunity to win the starting job.  And there’s reason to believe that he could be the game-one starter.

Morton is the highest-ranked QB Tech has landed since Graham Harrell in 2004.  He is the no. 12 pro-style QB in the nation and the no. 28 player in Texas.  For comparison sake, consider that Pat Mahomes was the no. 22 pro-style QB in the nation and no. 50 player in Texas in the class of 2014.

This isn’t to suggest that Morton is the next Mahomes.  That’s far too high of a bar to ask any incoming freshman to clear.

However, it is fair to point out that Morton is as highly-thought of as just about any QB to ever sign with the program.  What’s more, he’s the son of a coach meaning that he’s likely got a greater grasp of the game than the average QB recruit.

Don’t be surprised if Morton wins the job this spring.  With a new offensive coordinator coming into the program, it will level the playing field between him and the QBs already on the roster and that will allow for physical talent to play a huge role in this competition and Morton has more arm talent than any other Red Raider QB.

Thus, Morton could become the first true freshman to start the season opener for Tech since Baker Mayfield in 2013, who was the first freshman of the “Air Raid” era to win the starting job to open the season.  There was a time when it was unthinkable for a true freshman to win the QB job but now, it happens rather frequently in college football so don’t be surprised if Morton, the 9th-highest rated player to ever sign with Texas Tech, wins the job this offseason.