A look at every Texas Tech football alum on a 2024 NFL roster

The NFL preseason has mercifully come to a close. Thus, teams are finalizing their 53-man rosters for the regular season. This year, several former Texas Tech Red Raiders have found their way onto NFL rosters. Let's take a look at where each has landed.

Patrick Mahomes II - Kansas City Chiefs

Of course, we will start with the best player in football, Patrick Mahomes II. He leads the Kansas City Chiefs in their quest to become the first team to ever win three Super Bowls in a row.

Last season, despite playing with a flawed group of wide receivers, Mahomes put up 4,183 passing yards and 27 touchdowns in the regular season while completing 67.2% of his passes. He took his game to a new level, though, in the playoffs with a 69.8 completion percentage and six touchdowns to only one pick. Along the way, he averaged 262.7 passing yards per contest despite playing some of the league's best defenses. And, of course, he earned his second-straight Super Bowl MVP trophy.

This year, Mahomes has a new weapon in speedy rookie WR Xavier Worthy who could become a breakout star as he catches passes from the game's best QB. So look for another big season from Texas Tech's most prominent alum.

Terence Steele - Dallas Cowboys

This is going to be a big year for Terence Steele in Dallas. Now fully healthy after suffering a torn ACL late in the 2022 season, he needs to reestablish himself as a top-flight right tackle in the NFC.

Last season, Steele started every game for the Cowboys despite entering the season just nine months removed from his catastrophic knee injury. However, it was apparent that he wasn't the same player in 2023 that he was prior to his injury.

Now, he's back to feeling 100% healthy and he expects to have a big season. If he does, he will again assert himself as a veteran building block for a Dallas O-line that now features two rookie starters.

Tyree Wilson - Las Vegas Raiders

Another former Red Raider who needs a big 2024 season is second-year defensive end Tyree Wilson. After all, he didn't exactly set the world on fire as a rookie in 2023.

Expectations were high given that he was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, Wilson registered only 3.5 sacks and 29 tackles a year ago. This season, he needs to prove that he can come into his own as a pass rusher or people will start to talk about him as a draft bust.

Jordyn Brooks - Miami Dolphins

Another former first-round defender from Texas Tech, Jordyn Brooks enters his first season with the Miami Dolphins after signing with the franchise as a free agent this offseason. Last year, he started 16 of 17 games registering 111 tackles and a career-high 4.5 sacks for the Seattle Seahawks.

It has been a nice run for the former Red Raider the past few years. He's racked up over 100 tackles in each of the last three seasons, though his overall tackles dipped last year in Seattle. He'll look to spearhead a Miami defense that hopes to help the Dolphins get back to the playoffs this year after losing in the first round to Mahomes and the Chiefs last season.

Broderick Washington Jr. - Baltimore Ravens

A fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Broderick Washington Jr. is back for another season with the Baltimore Ravens. He's hoping to make more of an impact this year, though.

After putting up 49 tackles in 2022 (a career-high), he mustered only 18 in 2023. For his career, Washington has appeared in 55 games for the Ravens making 85 tackles with 4.0 sacks.

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson - Arizona Cardinals

The first rookie former Red Raider we'll look at is safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson who has made the Arizona Cardinals' roster after an impressive preseason. A fourth-round pick in this year's draft, he was the highest-drafted Red Raider this spring. As a Red Raider, he racked up 224 tackles and 10 picks to become one of the best defensive backs in recent memory to call Lubbock home.

Myles Cole - Jacksonville Jaguars

It isn't easy for a seventh-round pick to make an NFL roster but that's what former Texas Tech defensive end/outside linebacker Myles Cole has done in Jacksonville. Much of that is due to his potential. At 6-foot-6 and 280 pounds, he's got prototypical NFL size. However, can he be more productive on Sundays than he was at Tech where he managed only 44 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 25 career games?

Tyler Owens - Washington Commanders

Another Red Raider rookie who is a freakish athlete is safety Tyler Owens. He has made the 53-man roster of the Washington Commanders. At Tech, the former transfer from Texas made 56 tackles and one interception in 22 games. With the Commanders, he'll likely be a special teams ace due to his speed and experience as an open-field tackler.