With the Texas Tech football season less than two weeks away, fans are rightly growing anxious for some football. What’s more, some fans are likely analyzing the roster and finding areas of perceived strength and weakness.
We’ve spent quite a bit of time discussing areas where the Red Raiders are expected to be strong in 2022. Yet, it is worthwhile to take a look at where Joey McGuire’s squad might be vulnerable.
Of course, what we currently perceive as an area of concern might eventually become a strength while areas that we are currently confident in could easily become a big problem. That is the nature of sports.
Sometimes an injury can throw everything into chaos. We’ve seen that at the QB position in 2018, 2019, and 2021.
Other times, poor play can be the culprit as was the case with the 2021 offensive line. Heading into the season, we believed that TCU transfer and former All-Big 12 performer T.J. Storment would solidify the left tackle position. But he underperformed as did the offensive line as a whole leaving Tech vulnerable at one of the most important position groups on the field.
Similarly, the 2014 season was undone by both an injury and player regression. A year after Tech went 8-5 in Kliff Kingsbury’s debut season, expectations were high heading into 2014 but QB Davis Webb took a step back in his effectiveness throwing 13 interceptions in just eight games as compared to nine picks in 10 games the year prior. And when he was lost for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury, true freshman Patrick Mahomes had to step into the starting job for the final four games, a role that he might not have been quite ready for at the time. It all added up to a 4-8 dud of a season for Kingsbury and his Red Raiders.
The point is that we never know what sports are going to serve us. Of course, that’s why we love them. Other areas of entertainment are rather predictable. The movies almost always end with the protagonist coming out on top. A concert always gives you the artist’s most beloved standards.
That’s not the case with sports. What we think we’ll see isn’t always what we get. So taking the time to analyze a team’s strengths and weaknesses is often a fool’s errand.
However, that is what we are here to do today as we look at the areas of concern for the 2022 Texas Tech football team. As we do, let’s begin by looking at the group that will likely define how this fall plays out.