Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire gives update after second spring scrimmage

This past Saturday, the Texas Tech football team held its second scrimmage of spring football. Joey McGuire met with the media afterward to provide an update on what transpired and where his team stands with one week left in the spring.

"I thought you know Saturday was a good practice," he said. "Today offensively Cameron brown again showed mobility in the pocket. We blew it down but he would have had a touchdown on a speed option. Touchdown catches, Josh Kelly had a big catch for a touchdown and then Coy Aiken had a big catch for a touchdown."

Kelly continues to impress this spring. He's a big-play wide receiver who averaged 15.1 yards per reception last season at Washington State. The year before that, he averaged 17.3 yards per catch at Fresno State. He should provide the big-play ability this offense has been lacking for several seasons.

With starting QB Behren Morton not practicing as he continues to rehab his injured throwing shoulder, McGuire was asked about the reps at the QB spot. Through his answer, it appears that one of the backups is emerging as the clear-cut QB2.

"Cam Brown started with the ones today," he said.  "Really high on him. Coming into the scrimmage where you take 7 on 7 reps and you take any compete reps, so well over 300 attempts, he was at 70.7 completion percentage, you know, which is really good.  That's the highest we've had in my 3 springs so I felt really good about what all of them are doing but he's having a good spring."

Brown is a transfer from West Georgia. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, he's a dual-threat QB however it appears that his passing has impressed the coaching staff this spring. Of course, given Tech's injury history at the QB position in recent years, it is great to see a player emerge as a competent backup to Morton who has struggled with injuries in each of the past two seasons.

Of course, protecting the QB is one great way to keep the injury risk at a minimum. McGuire updated where his reworked offensive line stands after scrimmage two.

"...the starting group today was Sterling [Porcher] at left tackle, Caleb [Rogers] at left guard, Sheridan [Wilson] at center, [Davion] Carter at right guard and Ty Buchanan at right tackle," McGuire said.

It is interesting that Wilson continues to solidify his spot at the center position. The sophomore from Argyle wasn't in last season's two-deep rotation but he's burst onto the scene this offseason to be a likely starter in the middle of the line. As for the other starting spots, Buchanan seems to have solidified his hold on the right tackle job and Porcher continues to be mentioned as the starting left tackle.

That leaves Tech to figure out how to best use Rogers, the only returning starter from last season. It sounds as if he will play one of the guard spots despite the fact that he has been a tackle throughout his Red Raider career.

"So Caleb allows us to be able to have depth, you know, we are creating depth," McGuire said, "but…I really want him to play inside because I feel good about Sterling and Ty at tackle and I think it's going to help us and it's going to help him."

On the defensive line, McGuire likes he fact that he has as many as seven players he feels could rotate into a game situation. That's a stark contrast from the past few years when Tony Bradford and Jaylon Hutchings had to carry such a heavy load for the team.

"You know, if we started tomorrow, it's going to be Quincy [Ledet], and Dooda [Banks] starting and then you start rotating," McGuire said. "...you go Trevon McAlpine's had a great spring. [He] really came on at the end of the year. DB Carroll, James Hansen. Jayden Cofield made a play today that was really outstanding and he's doing really good. [Braylon] Rigsby, the thing I like about Rigsby right now is I think he'll keep progressing the stronger he gets as far as stopping the run but he's really explosive in the pass rush so early in the year it might be that he's a third down guy. But I think we have...seven. I really think that we have seven guys."

Texas Tech will have its final scrimmage of the spring on Saturday in the spring game. It will be held in Midland due to the construction at Jones AT&T Stadium. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m.