It is hard to remember a time when Texas Tech has added a backup QB from outside the program as intriguing as former Florida State transfer Tommy Castellanos. Since he joined the roster last week, he's been discussed as much as any player on the South Plains despite the fact that he isn't going to see much of the field unless something goes wrong.
While the fifth-year senior was not brought in to start, fans should be excited to see him in action. That's because head coach Joey McGuire has an ambitious plan for his new offensive weapon.
"I do think...that whenever we get him fully integrated, I think he's going to end up in every game," McGuire said Monday. "He's extremely dynamic with the ball in his hand...you don't see a lot of quarterbacks that are not in a true triple-option offense that rush for 1,100 yards [in a season]. So the guy is really dynamic with the ball in his hands, so we'll have packages for him at different times to get him in the game and get him going."
This is an unusual situation for McGuire and his coaching staff given the unique nature of the quarterback position. At any other spot on the field, players rotate in and out of the game with regularity, but rotating quarterbacks with any type of consistency is the worst thing for an offense.
Therefore, Tech must be strategic about how to deploy Castellanos. Fortunately, his skill set could be a perfect solution for a problem that held the Red Raider offense back in 2025.
The best way for Texas Tech to utilize Castellanos
At first glance, it might seem ambitious for McGuire to plan on playing his backup QB each week. However, there is a way to work him into the offense that makes perfect sense for this team.
Last season, the Red Raiders were one of the worst teams in the nation in the red zone. Tech scored a touchdown on only 55.4% of its 2025 red-zone opportunities. That ranked 98th in the nation.
That was essentially the only weakness the offense had last fall. Many attributed the struggles inside the 20 to the lack of a quarterback rushing attack since Behren Morton played the entire 2025 season with a hairline fracture in his leg. With Morton hobbled, Tech was leery of asking him to carry the ball on designed runs.
This year, Tech likely won't want to ask Hammond to use his legs all that often either, considering that he is less than a year removed from tearing a ligament in his knee. That's where Castellanos could be a solution.
In his career, he's racked up 24 career touchdowns on the ground. That includes nine last season for the Seminoles.
Therefore, he could be the ultimate red-zone weapon. A smallish quarterback, Castellanos is as shifty as they come. His specialty isn't his top-end speed but rather his ability to make people miss in tight spaces, and tight spaces are what define the red zone.
Often, teams have a red-zone QB who is a liability when throwing the ball, which gives the defense an advantage when that QB enters the game. However, Castallanos has also thrown for 48 career TDs, making him a true dual-threat weapon.
If McGuire is being honest about his plans to get Castallanos snaps on a weekly basis, then the red zone would be the perfect place. What's more, it would be refreshing for Tech to finally use the backup quarterback because it wants to, not because it has to.
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