Texas Tech Reloads the Deepest Roster in the Big 12 Around One Nagging Quarterback Question
Texas Tech authored the finest season in program history in 2025, going 12-2 and 8-1 in the Big 12, steamrolling the league to a conference title with a 34-7 rout of BYU and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff. The run ended with a 0-23 shutout by Oregon in an Orange Bowl quarterfinal, but nothing about that afternoon dimmed the program's momentum. Joey McGuire enters his fifth year in Lubbock riding four straight winning Big 12 records and a fresh extension through 2032, and the roster he has assembled is widely regarded as the most talented in the conference.
The one wrinkle sits at the game's most important position. Prized Indiana transfer Brendan Sorsby arrived as a reported four-million-dollar signing and looked like the finishing piece, but in late April he announced he was entering a treatment program for a gambling addiction tied to betting on Indiana games in 2022, leaving his eligibility in serious doubt and any return dependent on legal proceedings. Whether he ever takes a snap in Lubbock, Sorsby is a dynamic dual-threat capable of drawing early draft attention if reinstated, having thrown for 2,800 yards with a 27-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio and nearly 600 rushing yards in his last full campaign. For now, the Red Raiders are preparing as if the job belongs to someone else.
Offense
With Sorsby's status unresolved, Tulsa transfer Kirk Francis is first in line. Francis started a dozen games across three seasons for the Golden Hurricane, throwing for 3,045 yards and 18 touchdowns, and gives the offense a steady veteran hand. Will Hammond, last year's backup who passed for 680 yards, tore his ACL in late October and is targeting a return early in the season; he took the top reps in spring while rehabbing and is still viewed internally as the quarterback of the future. Redshirt freshman Lloyd Jones III, himself coming off a high school ACL tear, provides emergency depth. The supporting cast around whoever wins the job is loaded enough to make the transition workable.
Second-team All-Big 12 tight end Terrance Carter Jr. headlines the pass catchers after hauling in 55 balls for 624 yards and five scores, a reliable seam and red-zone target who should anchor the passing game no matter who is under center. The receiver room was rebuilt through the portal after two wideouts were drafted, with Pitt transfer Kenny Johnson (49 catches, 695 yards) stepping in as the top perimeter threat alongside junior Micah Hudson and returning slot Coy Eakin, who caught 43 passes for 637 yards. Auburn transfer Malcolm Simmons and Liberty's Donte Lee add further experience to a deep group. Tech ranked among the nation's top 15 passing attacks a year ago, and the returning production should keep that number up.
The ground game is the identity of this offense. Cameron Dickey is coming off a monster junior year with 1,124 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns plus 224 more through the air, the kind of workhorse who can carry a young quarterback. Alongside him, J'Koby Williams is one of the Big 12's best all-purpose backs, rushing for 868 yards, adding nearly 400 receiving yards and taking a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown; his role should expand in the passing and return games. Quinten Joyner, a former USC tailback who averaged 7.6 yards a carry in 2024 before missing last season with injury, is expected back to give the backfield a third dangerous option. The tandem of Dickey and Williams combined for nearly 2,000 yards on the ground and 25 total scores, one of the most productive backfields in the country.
Three starters return up front, providing valuable continuity. Center Sheridan Wilson is a veteran anchor with 27 career starts, and right tackle Jacob Ponton started all 14 games last season and profiles as a potential draftable blocker on the edge. Left tackle Howard Sampson, a North Carolina transfer who earned third-team All-Big 12 honors, holds down the blind side. Louisville transfer Jordan Church steps in at guard, and Illinois State transfer Hunter Zambrano brings 25 career starts to the other guard spot. The line has been a sore spot for McGuire in the past, but this is a deeper, more experienced version that should keep the run game humming.
Defense
The defense must reload after sending six players to the NFL draft, and the front is where the losses sting most. Gone is the nation's 2025 sack leader and No. 2 overall pick David Bailey, along with third-round edge Romello Height. McGuire hit the portal hard to replace them: San Diego State's Trey White brings 19.5 sacks over the past two seasons and profiles as a similar off-the-edge disruptor, while Miami of Ohio's Adam Trick arrives with 12.5 tackles for loss and second-team All-MAC production. Together the pair accounted for 32.5 sacks the last two years, and both have a chance to hear their names called next spring even while stepping up a level. Inside, All-American nose tackle A.J. Holmes Jr. is the building block, a disruptive interior force entering his third season in coordinator Shiel Wood's scheme. Mateen Ibirogba adds size and experience at the other tackle. The group figures to be less dominant than last year's unit, which held foes roughly 124 yards below their average, but there is real talent here.
Veteran Ben Roberts takes command of the linebacker room after leading the team with 90 tackles and earning Big 12 Championship Game Most Outstanding Player honors; he assumes the leadership role with second-round Dolphins pick Jacob Rodriguez gone. Alongside him, Kansas State transfer Austin Romaine is a two-time All-Big 12 second-teamer who plays with rare toughness, having gutted through much of 2025 with a clubbed hand that eventually required surgery. Nickel John Curry returns after a 72-tackle season and rounds out an experienced, physical group that should hold up against the run.
The secondary is anchored by first-team All-Big 12 corner Brice Pollock, who led the team with five interceptions and broke up 13 passes; he projects as a high pick and one of the best cover men in the league. He pairs with returning corner Amier Boyd to form a formidable duo on the outside. Safety is the question mark after the loss of Cole Wisniewski to the NFL and a miss on a top portal target; sophomore Peyton Morgan, a former four-star with impressive speed and ball skills, is the early favorite to claim the open role, with veteran Brenden Jordan back at the other safety spot following a 59-tackle season.
Kicker Stone Harrington returns for his senior year as one of the nation's best, a Lou Groza Award semifinalist and first-team All-Big 12 pick who connected on 22 of 28 field goals with a career-long 58-yarder against Utah. The Red Raiders must replace their departed punter but landed transfer Will Karoll, who has averaged better than 43 yards a boot, to fill the void. J'Koby Williams handles kick returns and is a threat to take one the distance every time he touches it.
Overview and Prediction
Texas Tech enters 2026 as the clear preseason favorite in the Big 12 and a fringe top-15 team nationally, and the schedule cooperates. The Red Raiders miss both BYU and Utah in the crossover and play their most dangerous games at home, with a Week 3 date against Houston looming as an early measuring stick before trips to Arizona State, Cincinnati and Baylor and home tests with Arizona and TCU. The roster is top-to-bottom the most talented in the conference, the ground game is elite, and even a defense thinner than a year ago is stocked with portal reinforcements and returning stars in Pollock, Roberts and Holmes. The offense that averaged nearly 40 points a game must simply be more efficient in the red zone, where too many promising drives stalled into field goals last fall.
The swing factor is obvious. If Francis or a healthy Hammond delivers even competent quarterback play, this team should win the Big 12 again and push for a return trip to the Playoff. If the position becomes a genuine liability, a soft slate still points toward double-digit wins. Either way, the Red Raiders are built to contend, and in a wide-open conference with minimal margin for error, the talent edge belongs to Lubbock.