Texas Tech football: Takeaways from the first 2023 depth chart

Young defensive backs, Jalon Peoples and Brenden Jordan on Texas Tech’s second team

While the first-team Texas Tech secondary is experienced and old, the future of that position group appears closer to arriving than we might have originally thought.  In fact, two freshmen, Jalon Peoples and Brenden Jordan have both cracked the two-deep.

Peoples is a redshirt freshman who appeared in only two games last year.  The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Cedar Hill, Texas product has practiced both at safety and corner and now finds himself listed as the No. 2 corner behind Rayshad Williams.

For what it’s worth, senior Cameron Watts is listed under Peoples with the word “or” separating them indicating that either could see second-team snaps.  However, there has to be a reason why Peoples is listed first out of that duo.

As for Jordan, he is a true freshman who is backing up Baskerville at the all-important “Star” position.  That’s impressive given how much is asked of the player in DeRuyter’s scheme.

Jordan is a 6-foot, 215-pound product of Mansfield, Texas.  In the most recent recruiting cycle, he was labeled the No. 14 safety in the country by 247Sports and considered a Rivals Texas 100 prospect as the No. 92 recruit in the state.  In addition to Tech, he held offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, SMU, and USC.

Now, I still wonder if Jordan would be thrust into a full-time starting job at the “Star” should Baskerville go down with an injury or if Tech might shuffle some pieces around to get a more experienced defender into the lineup.  However, the fact that Jordan is already cracking the depth chart is impressive and an encouraging sign for the future of the position.