Texas Tech football: Red Raider rookies look to tackle NFL

Just receiving a phone call from any team is enough to get a player to put in his best effort. That is the challenge five other Red Raiders are facing this summer. After the draft, every team brings in undrafted free agents for their rookie minicamps to see who they want back on the field in July when the real fun begins in training camp.

The first Tech alumnus to get a call was kicker Trey Wolff who is headed to the Tennessee Titans. All Red Raider fans remember about him last year was his tendency for nailing big kicks. Wolff went 21 of 25 on field goal attempts including two game-winners to beat Texas and Oklahoma in overtime. He also made all but one extra point.

Caleb Shudak is the only other kicker on the Titans’ roster. He also arrived as an undrafted free agent last season but only kicked in one game. Randy Bullock was the team’s starter last season, but Tennessee did not resign him. That opens the door for a new starter to emerge. That could be Wolff. If he finds his stride in training camp, the Titans may have a consistent kicker.

Marquis “Muddy” Waters signed with the New York Jets who are entering a new era with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. His senior season was a successful bounce-back one at Tech after suffering a season-ending injury in 2021.

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With no clear-cut starter at the safety spot for New York, Waters could fight his way onto at least the team’s practice squad. Chuck Clark, Will Parks, and Jordan Whitehead are the veteran leaders of the back end of the secondary but are by no means household names. If Waters can bring the same intensity he did at Tech for the last two years, he might find his way moving up the Jets’ depth chart.

The New Orleans Saints signed not one, but two Red Raiders. SaRodorick Thompson and Adrian Frye will tackle the Big Easy together looking to make the team. Both arrived at Tech in the same class and brought energy to the program, now can they do it in the NFL?

Thompson got big breaks after college by attending both the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and the Senior Bowl. While he did not produce big numbers in either of those games, scouts and general managers took notice. Thompson will get to learn behind one of the best backs in the league, Alvin Kamara, but as of right now, he is buried on the depth chart.

The Saints signed Jamaal Williams, who rushed for 1,000 yards last year and drafted TCU’s Kendre Miller. Eno Benjamin has been in the NFL for four years and appears to be the option at third string.

Unfortunately, NFL training camps are a numbers game and right now the numbers do not look great for Thompson. Tech coaches and fans know what he is capable of, though, being the consistent runner with speed and power that we saw over the past several seasons.  But the Saints coaches need to see that on the field too for the former two-star recruit to make the roster.

For Adrian Frye, he arrived as only a mini-camp invite, but that did not last long. After trying out several players, the Saints officially signed him as an undrafted free agent. With Frye officially heading to camp, he’ll have a chance to measure himself up against one of the best defensive backs in the game.

That of course is Marshon Lattimore. He will also join ten-year veteran Bradley Roby in the secondary. With New Orleans searching for key depth at corner, the odds might be looking up for Frye. The biggest concern is if he can take his game up a notch higher than it was during his last years at Tech. Frye burst onto the scene in Lubbock as a freshman with five interceptions in 2018 but only had two more the rest of his college career. Consistency is key to making it in the NFL and Frye needs to find that in camp this summer.