Texas Tech football: Five newcomers that could have a big impact this fall

Offensive tackle Cole Spencer looks like a walk-in starter

The success of the 2022 Texas Tech football team will rest heavily upon the rebuilt offensive line.  So we’ll spend our last two spots on this list looking at key additions to that group.  And we’ll begin by exploring what Cole Spencer could bring to the table.

A Kentucky native, he is a sixth-year player who started 44 career games at Western Kentucky.  And that experience will pay dividends this fall, especially given that he played last season in the offense of Zach Kittley while also being coached by new Red Raider offensive line coach Steven Hamby.

Spencer didn’t participate in spring practices for precautionary reasons following offseason surgery.  But expect him to be ready to go this fall when camp opens.  And Tech will certainly be counting on him to lock down one of the starting tackle jobs.

While Caleb Rogers appears to have the other starting tackle job sown up after starting all 13 games at right tackle, prior to Spencer’s arrival, there was no obvious choice on the roster to replace 2021 starter T.J. Stormment at left tackle.

Spencer is a skilled pass blocker, which is good given Kittley’s propensity for putting the ball in the air.  But he’ll need to improve as a run blocker given that Tech’s strength on offense is the running back corps.

Last season, Storment, (a one-year Red Raider who transferred in from TCU after earning second-team all-conference honors in 2020) was merely adequate and at times below-average.  Can Spencer be a step up in quality?  Kittley and McGuire are banking on it because there simply aren’t any other somewhat proven options to protect the QB’s blindside this fall.