With the way David Bailey performed while playing for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, it’s not a surprise that the head coach of the Texas Tech football team would believe that the talented pass rusher deserves to be among the top players selected in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.
And of course, Joey McGuire wasn’t at all shy about sharing his thoughts on where Bailey deserved to be picked. During a press conference following one of Texas Tech’s spring practices, McGuire took to the podium and advocated heavily for Bailey.
“I’ve seen all the guys that, you know, maybe could go number two over him,” McGuire explained. “And they’re production is nowhere close to David Bailey’s.”
Which, to be fair, Bailey’s production was otherworldly this past season. After transferring from Stanford to Texas Tech and finishing his college career in Lubbock, Bailey managed to rack up 52 combined tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, and 14.5 sacks.
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire isn’t shy about sharing his thoughts about how NFL GM’s should consider David Bailey
But McGuire wasn’t just settling this on production from Bailey’s college career. That’s not the only thing that goes into picking players during the NFL Draft.
“It’s hard to say they have more potential than David Bailey,” McGuire continued.
And I think that’s a fair thing to say. The Red Raiders got to experience so much success this season because Bailey was so consistent in the excellence that he delivered on the field and it still felt like there was room for him to grow, improve, and then build on top of that success.
“You know, this is the first year that he truly played at defensive end and wasn’t dropping into coverage and stuff like that,” McGuire said.
That’s just insane. His first year playing defensive end and he was an absolute force for the Red Raiders.