Texas Tech football: Offensive position group grades for 2020

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LUBBOCK, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 14: Tight end Travis Koontz #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders runs the ball during the first half of the college football game against the Baylor Bears at Jones AT&T Stadium on November 14, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Tight ends: D-

I really wanted to give this year’s tight ends an “F”. But because they were part of helping block in the run game, they honestly deserve a bit better than that.

Still, they were a disappointment, especially senior Travis Koontz. He entered the year expected to be a true weapon in the offense but he caught only 14 passes for 189 yards and one TD. That was just four more receptions and 37 more yards than he had last fall when he was hardly visible in the offense as a backup.

To be fair, Koontz is a good blocker and that’s an important part of his job. But he was supposed to be much more impactful in the passing attack this year and he simply was not. Some of that was due to the fact that Yost didn’t utilize the position much while some of that had to do with his inability to consistently get open.

True freshman John Holcomb played quite a bit more than most expected. However, he caught just six passes for 42 yards while making the transition from 2A high school football to the Big 12.

Tech has a pair of intriguing 6-foot-6-plus tight ends signed and ready to come into the program in 2021 and it will be interesting to see if either Mason Tharpe or Jed Castles can supplant either Koontz or Holcomb on the depth chart. And given how little Tech got from its tight ends in 2020, that could be entirely possible.

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