Texas Tech football: 2017-18 classes largely absent from two-deep

It’s been two-and-a-half years since the divorce between the Texas Tech football program and Kliff Kingsbury was finalized. And one could argue that, as is the case in many breakups, both parties are in a better place now that they have gone their separate ways. But that doesn’t mean that Kingsbury’s influence won’t still hang over the upcoming season.

In fact, this fall, Kingsbury will still have quite the impact on his alma mater even though he’ll be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL. That’s because this is the season that the final two recruiting classes that Kingsbury brought to Lubbock should form the backbone of this team. However, the reality is that those two recruiting hauls were atrocious and have left the current Texas Tech football staff to turn to an unproven method of roster building.

Many Red Raider fans are uncertain about whether the strategy of loading up on transfers from other Power 5 schools currently being deployed by head coach Matt Wells is the prudent way to build a program. No coach in Texas Tech football history has leaned so heavily into the transfer market and by putting his faith in a host of players that have already flammed out at one school, Wells is certainly gambling with this program’s future. Will it pay off? Only time will tell.

But there’s a reason that Wells has been forced to take a different path to gain roster respectability and bring in 26 transfers in the last three recruiting classes. It’s because his predecessor left the cupboard astonishingly bare.

Kingsbury’s final two recruiting classes were the 2017 class, which is now set to be fifth-year seniors, and the 2018 class, members of which are now either redshirt juniors or seniors. And when you look across the expected Texas Tech two-deep rotation for 2021, it is clear that those two classes haven’t produced the amount of talent that a program needs each class to produce in order to compete at the Big 12 level.

The 2017 class was ranked No. 49 overall and No. 6 in the Big 12 by 247Sports. That’s about average for what a Tech class has been ranked in the past decade.

The good news is that there were a few stars to come from that class. It is headlined by the two offensive linemen from Frisco High School, Jack Anderson and Dawson Deaton, the former of whom is now in the NFL and the latter of whom is now arguably the Big 12’s best center.

Tech also inked linebacker Riko Jeffers in 2017. The Sachse, Texas native enters his final season as a Red Raider in 2021 with 223 career tackles and six career sacks and many believe he could be in for a huge season this fall.

But after that, the only solid contributors the 2017 class provided the Red Raiders with were JUCO DE Tony Jones (who ended his career with 8.0 sacks), JUCO LB Dakota Allen (249 career tackles as a Red Raider), and JUCO safety Vaughnte Dorsey (114 career tackles and 5 interceptions). Those players were all fine contributors but that class needed its high school members to pan out for Tech’s future to be secure and that didn’t happen.

The QB that Tech signed that year, Xavier Martin, was moved to receiver almost as soon as he stepped on campus and has since bounced into the secondary where he tried his hand at safety to no avail. Want to know why Tech’s QB injury issues have been so devastating in recent years and why players not of Big 12 caliber such as McLane Carter and Henry Colombi have gotten their shot at starting? It all goes back to failing to land a QB in the 2017 class who could handle that position, even as a competent backup.

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Meanwhile, some of the highest-rated signees from that class have proven to be busts. Injuries have kept DE Nelson Mbanasor from being a significant factor, which is unfortunate given that he was the only defensive end Tech took in that class. Quincy Addison was the highest-rated high school DB but he too proved to be a bust as a Red Raider. Thus, it makes sense that Tech has invested so heavily in bringing in transfer defensive backs and defensive ends in the Wells era.

In all, nine high school prospects signed with Tech that year (one shy of the number of JUCO players Kingsbury brought to town in that class), and only one, Deaton, will be a starter for Tech this fall. A second, Adrian Frye could be a rotational piece at corner. That’s not a great hit rate.

But the 2018 class didn’t do much to offset the shortcomings of its predecessor. In fact, it has been only slightly more beneficial to the program. That’s because, only four members of that class (WR Erik Ezukanma, RB SaRodorick Thompson, OL Weston Wright, and DT Jaylon Hutchings) are set to be starters in 2021.

What’s killed the 2018 class has been defections. Players such as QB Alan Bowman, WR Kesean Carter, RB Tazhawn Henry, LB Xavier Benson, and WR Myllar Royals all at one time flashed potential but eventually left the program for different reasons.

Think specifically about the departures of the receivers, a position that is rather thin for Tech in 2021. How different would that position group be if Carter were still on the roster and if Royals had lived up to his potential instead of being dismissed from the team?

Then there are busts from that class who are still on the roster. Former 4-star guard Demarcus Marshall has yet to break into the two-deep rotation despite being a monster in the high school ranks. Fellow offensive linemen Clayton Franks and Tony Bradshaw also have been unable to prove worthy of significant Saturday snaps. Thus, Wells has had to turn to two transfers (T.J. Storment and Josh Burger) to help fill out the 2021 starting offensive line

Some may say it is stupid to point out that a class ranked 72nd in the nation and 10th in the Big 12 is not helping this program move forward. With rankings that low, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the misses have outweighed the hits. In fact, many might be satisfied with the four starters that the 2018 class has produced.

But this year, the fact remains, there will be only seven combined players from the 2017 and 2018 classes that will be starters. Meanwhile, eight of the transfers Wells has brought in will be in line for starting roles.

Now, Wells is having to dip as heavily into the transfer portal as any coach in America just to save his job. If he can’t, part of the blame for his demise will fall at the feet of his predecessor who left the Texas Tech roster in a rather perilous situation when he was fired.

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Texas Tech football: 2017-18 classes largely absent from projected two-deep

By Matthew Conner | Jun 29, 2021

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