Projected Texas Tech football depth chart ahead of spring football

Spring is when the nation's attention turns to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. That's true of Texas Tech basketball fans given that Grant McCasland's team appears destined for the Big Dance after Saturday's win over West Virginia. However, it is also when football enters our consciousness again thanks to spring practices.

This year, the Texas Tech football program will wait until after Spring Break to hold its spring practice sessions. The 15 workouts that Tech will hold begin on March 18 and will wrap up on April 20 with the annual spring game. This year, that event will take place in Midland due to the ongoing construction at Jones AT&T Stadium.

So though basketball rules March, let's take a minute to remind outselves where the football roster stands after a busy offseason in terms of departures and arrivals. Here's an early projection of what the depth chart might look like when Tech returns to the practice field later this month. ourselves

We all know that next year's starter at quarterback is going to be Behren Morton. The question that must be answered is how many games he will play.

In 2023, Morton showed his toughness by playing through a painful sprained shoulder, one that limited his ability to throw the ball down the field with the velocity that he is known to have. The hope is that 2024 will finally be the year that Tech has its week-one starter make every start, which would be the first time that has happened for the Red Raiders since Patrick Mahomes II in 2016.

Given Tech's recent QB injury woes, the Red Raiders' depth chart is of critical importance. That's a pecking order that will be up for grabs this spring with redshirt freshman Jake Strong, transfer Cameran Brown, and true freshman Will Hammond all trying to win the backup job.

Right now, Strong has to be the No. 2 option given his year of experience in Zack Kittley's system. However, given Strong's struggles in his two appearances (he threw six interceptions in six quarters of football last year), Brown and Hammond will have a chance to jump past him on the depth chart. Keep an eye on Brown, a dual-threat player who was at West Georgia last season. He's a big QB who will likely see some action in the QB run game and he has experience as a starter, though not at the major-college level.

This is a group that is very green behind Morton. Of course, Morton himself isn't all that experienced with only 12 starts in his career thus far. Still, he is entrenched as the starter. But what happens behind him on the depth chart will be fascinating to watch during the spring.