As the college football offseason continues on, as the men’s and women’s college basketball seasons carry on, and as we get just days away from the start of the college softball and college baseball season), we’re also continuing to get closer and closer to the start of the 2026 NFL Draft.
And that means we’ll soon see a few Texas Tech Red Raiders get the chance to continue their playing careers as they find out which teams at the next level will take them.
Of course, as we get closer and closer to the NFL Draft, we’re going to continue seeing more and more mock drafts pop up here and there. Admittedly, it’s going to be hard to keep up with who is projecting which players to end up with which teams, but we’ll continue to do our best.
So far, we’re seeing that the Texas Tech Red Raiders are getting three players projected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft by Athlon Sports’ 2026 Mock Draft. And that feels like a great place to start.
Athlon Sports mock draft projects 3 Red Raiders to get selected in the first couple rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft
And all three of those Texas Tech football players came from the Red Raiders’ defensive front that was so dominant and disruptive throughout the season.
- David Bailey - Tennessee Titans - No. 4 overall
- Lee Hunter - Houston Texans - No. 38 overall
- Romello Height - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - No. 46 overall
If this were to actually happen, this would pay off huge for the Red Raiders’ recruiting strategy on a couple of different fronts.
First, Texas Tech was able to pick up all three of these players through the transfer portals. It’d be really easy for the Red Raiders coaching staff to continue to pitch to players that they could make some money in Lubbock and then very quickly move on to the NFL if they so chose.
The second is that all three of those guys came from the defensive side of the ball. Historically, that’s not something Texas Tech is known to thrive in. But if the Red Raiders can start putting dominant pass rushers in the NFL, then there’s another recruiting pitch to more defensive stars across the country.
Texas Tech Lady Raiders suffer infuriating 14-point loss to the Iowa State Cyclones
There’s not too much more to say about this one, but it’s clear that the Lady Raiders are a pretty inconsistent team. Unfortunately for Texas Tech women’s basketball fans, we’ve now seen the Lady Raiders lose three of their last four games.
- There are several concerning stats that showed up against Iowa State
- I've got a number of questions following that loss, but let's focus on these three
- Texas Tech's margin for error in the Big 12 standings isn't looking all that great
Texas Tech still has time to get that situated, but the margin for error is functionally gone. The Lady Raiders have got to beat TCU this weekend and then find a way to beat Baylor once again when they meet up later this season.