There has been plenty of talk about the overhaul of the Texas Tech wide receiver position this offseason. Senior transfer Josh Kelly from Washington State and 5-star All-American high school signee Micah Hudson have garnered the bulk of the headlines but Red Raider fans shouldn't overlook the addition of Florida transfer Caleb Douglas. If the former Gator can have a bounce-back season in 2024, he might wind up being one of the team's top offseason additions.
A native of Missouri City, Texas, Douglas was a 3-star prospect coming out of high school according to 247Sports.com. He was rated the No. 464 player in his class and the No. 69 wide receiver in America in 2022.
Douglas held offers from the likes of Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, Colorado State, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Notre Dame, SMU, Texas, Texas Tech, USC, Utah, Virginia Tech, and a host of others. However, he decided to call Florida home.
As a freshman, Douglas started two games and appeared in eight. He caught 10 passes for 175 yards and two TDs. His 17.5 yards per catch average was proof that he could be a big-play threat at the SEC level.
Last season, he started the first five games of the year making 11 receptions for 133 yards and a TD. However, a lower leg injury cost him the remainder of the season.
Now, he's transferred to Texas Tech where he hopes a fresh start will allow him to unlock his full potential. The Red Raiders are hoping he could bring some of his big-play ability to their passing attack as well.
At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, Douglas is Texas Tech's biggest wide receiver. His size could be important given that Tech lost two tall wide receivers after last season, Loic Fouonji and Jerand Bradley. Though that duo caught only 42 balls for 516 yards and six TDs last year, they were able to make big plays at times thanks to their sizeable frames.
In the 2023 opener at Utah, Douglas showed that he too can use his physical tools to make critical plays. Going up over a smaller defender, Douglas hauled in this 19-yard TD for the Gators' first score of the year.
However, he has also shown an ability to run past defensive backs. In his first college game in 2022, he blew past a corner to haul in a nice 62-yard touchdown against Eastern Washington.
Of course, big plays were largely missing from Tech's 2023 passing attack. Some of that was due to the injury to QB Behren Morton whose sprained throwing shoulder limited his ability to push the ball down the field.
However, Tech's wide receivers struggled to create separation from defensive backs. In fact, the only Red Raider pass catcher who had more than two receptions and who averaged over 12 yards per catch was Xavier White (14.3 yards per catch) who graduated after last season.
Though the sample size is small for his career, Douglas has an average of 14.7 yards per catch. If he can bring some big plays to the Red Raider offense, it would do wonders for Morton and the entire passing attack.
Of course, Douglas is still an unproven commodity. What's more, he's going to have to fend off players such as 6-foot-2 sophomore Coy Eakin to earn playing time.
Still, Douglas has a rather high ceiling and he is looking to break out in 2024. If he does, the Red Raiders could field one of the better wide receiver groups in the Big 12.