Texas Tech backup QB Cameran Brown will have a regular role in 2024

They say that the most popular player on any roster is the backup quarterback. Given that Lubbock's native son Behren Morton will be the starter for Texas Tech in 2024, that might not hold true in Raiderland. However, QB2 Camran Brown will still be an important component of this year's team. In fact, he's a player that Red Raider fans can expect to see plenty of regardless of how well Morton plays.

Of course, the elephant in the room when talking about Texas Tech quarterbacks is the health, or lack thereof, that we've seen from that position in recent years. In fact, the last time a Tech QB made every start in a season was in 2016 when Pat Mahomes still called the South Plains home.

What's more, in five of the past six seasons, Tech has had to rely on three different players to start at least one game at the QB position. Thus, the backup and the third-string QB roles have become increasingly scrutinized in West Texas.

Of course, the hope this year is that Behren Morton will be able to play a full season at 100%. However, given his injury history (he suffered a high ankle sprain that cost him several games in 2022 and played through a sprained throwing shoulder for nine games last fall), Tech can assume nothing.

Thus, it would be wise for fans to become acquainted with Brown, a transfer from West Georgia. That's because Joey McGuire has said that the sophomore will see the field every week regardless of Morton's status.

"Really excited about Cam," McGuire said at Big 12 Media Days earlier this month. "He's 6'2". Yesterday he weighed 237 pounds. So he's going to be a load. The thing that I love about Cam, you know, he understands that part of him being a really good quarterback is the way he runs the football. Not only the way he throws the football, but he runs the football.

"And so one thing that we definitely want to do is add him to the quarterback run game, but use him in a lot of different ways. He's really a great athlete.

"He brings -- talking about personality -- he brings a lot of personality to the locker room. He's always fired up. He's got a lot of energy and he's very confident in what kind of football player he is.

"So he's another guy. We expect to see Cam in some role every single game."

There's no question that offensive coordinator Zach Kittley likes to use the designed QB run as part of his offensive strategy. Last year, he even asked the injury-prone Tyler Shough to carry the ball 48 times in just three full games and one quarter of a fourth (though some of those carries were sacks, which count officially as rushing attempts).

What's more, in 2022, Kittley saw Morton, Shough, and Donovan Smith combine for 190 rushes. Thus, we should expect the QB run game to be on display in 2024 again.

However, unlike Shough or Smith, Morton is not the biggest guy. Checking in at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, he isn't the type of QB that you want taking extra punishment in the running game.

That's why this offseason Tech purposely set out to find a mobile QB who can absorb loads of contact as a ball carrier. Brown fits that bill, as McGuire said, and he will be called upon to be a battering ram, perhaps even more often than he's asked to put the ball in the air.

Last season, as a true freshman at West Georgia, Brown ran for 478 yards and six scores while also throwing for 914 yards and ten more scores in nine games (seven starts). This spring, he impressed the coaching staff with his passing ability giving them the confidence to hand him the No. 2 QB job over redshirt freshman Jake Strong and true freshman phenom Will Hammond.

The hope is that Brown's presence will help keep Morton upright more often while also reducing the amount of punishment he takes. Maybe that will be the key to keeping a QB healthy for a full season.

If Brown can come in a give this offense an extra dimension as a power runner from the QB spot, it will allow Kittley to open up his full bag of tricks and utilize an aspect of his offense that he clearly believes in while not exposing Morton to unnecessary punishment. So get to know Cam Brown Tech fans because he will be part of the equation all season for the Red Raiders. Just how much so, though, will depend on Morton's ability to stay on the field.