Six more Tech seniors to return in '23
The Texas Tech football team's two-deep at the start of the 2023 season figures to bear more than a passing resemblance to the one at the end of the 2022 season.
The number of this year's Tech seniors planning to return next season on the Covid-bonus year is now up to 12.
A Tech athletics spokesman said this week six more previously unannounced players have told the coaching staff they're coming back, offensive lineman Dennis Wilburn chief among them. Wilburn, who came to Tech as a walk-on, seized the center job in spring practice and has started every game this season.
The Tech staff plans to move Wilburn to guard for next season. On Thursday, Tech announced the addition of Western Kentucky center Rusty Staats as a transfer. Staats was the starting center on back-to-back 9-5 bowl-winning teams for the Hilltoppers.
Also planning to return in 2023 are center Cade Briggs, defensive lineman Myles Cole, linebacker Tyrique Matthews, cornerback Cameron Watts and safety Tyler Owens.
Matthews and Owens could contend for starting jobs next season. Defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter showed a lot of confidence in Matthews this season, using him regardless of the game situation in a regular rotation with leading tackler Krishon Merriweather at field-side linebacker. Matthews has 16 tackles and 3 1/2 tackles for loss.
Owens is the top backup at boundary safety, a regular on special teams and started Tech's game at Oklahoma State. He has 13 tackles and two pass breakups.
Cole has been a regular in the defensive-line rotation, getting credit for 10 tackles and three quarterback hurries. His versatility to play both end and tackle increases his value, and he's played in pass-rush packages.
Tech has 23 seniors who have the option to return on the extra year granted by the NCAA to all athletes on rosters during the Covid-disrupted 2020 season. Of Tech's 12 now on the "return" list, seven are regular starters — five on defense, two on offense — and three are top backups.
The only players among the 23 yet to make a decision, at least publicly, are quarterback Tyler Shough, tight end Henry Teeter, safety Cam White and punter Austin McNamara.
Of course, things can change. The NCAA transfer portal, open for a 45-day period that started Dec. 5 and open again from May 1-15, commonly leads to roster shakeups.
As it currently stands, left guard is the only position on offense at which Tech won't return starting experience next season. Weston Wright, the 42-game starter there, has said he'll bypass the extra year and train for a shot at the NFL.
During early practices for next week's Texas Bowl, offensive linemen Caleb Rogers and Wilburn have been alternating days between their regular positions and others. One day, Rogers works at left tackle and Wilburn at center, as usual. The next, Rogers works at center and Wilburn at guard, and they go back and forth doing that.
When spring practice starts, Wilburn will be at guard.
Staats, listed by WKU at 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds, started 13 games at center each of the past two seasons. The Hilltoppers won nine games each year, beating Appalachian State last year in the Boca Raton Bowl and beating South Alabama on Wednesday in the New Orleans Bowl.
Staats, from Watertown, Tennessee, spent his first five seasons at WKU. Pro Football Focus ranked him tied for seventh in pass blocking efficiency this season among FBS centers.
"Rusty is one of the top centers in the country who really understands this offense well," McGuire said. "We really like the depth we’ve added in our offensive line in the last two days. We can’t wait to get Rusty on campus here in a few weeks."
Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and offensive line coach Stephen Hamby had the same positions on the 2021 Western Kentucky staff. Cole Spencer, a 44-game starter on the WKU offensive line, transferred to Tech after last season, but missed 2022 recovering from knee surgery. McGuire had projected him to start at guard for the Red Raiders.
"I really believe moving Dennis to guard is going to change our offensive line," McGuire said. "Then you'll add Cole Spencer back in there. He's lifting and running. We'll get his medical (hardship waiver) year.
"So where this year it's been tough at times in the offensive line, I think it will turn around and be one of our strengths when it comes to next year."
True freshman Sheridan Wilson from Argyle has been the Red Raiders' second-team center. McGuire said Wilson "has had a really, really good fall.
"I know he hasn't played in a game, but he's a freshman that has really grown up."
Tech's dozen opt-ins are twice as many as last off-season. Of the six 2021 seniors who came back for 2022, Merriweather, linebacker Kosi Eldridge and safety Marquis Waters reaped big rewards. Waters earned first-team All-Big 12 recognition, Merriweather is third in the conference with 104 tackles and Eldridge is having a career year with 82 tackles.
One of the six returnees, linebacker Matthew Young, missed the entire season with a back injury. Young is expected to be back in 2023, a Tech athletics spokesman said, with a medical hardship waiver for this year.
In another development Thursday, former Tech safety Reggie Pearson announced he's committed to Oklahoma as a graduate transfer. Last week, Pearson graduated from Tech and announced he was having his name entered into the NCAA transfer portal.
The fifth-year senior was the Red Raiders' fifth-leading tackler during the regular season, making 55 stops to go along with two interceptions, a fumble recovery and four pass breakups. Pearson started 10 games for the Red Raiders each of the past two seasons after making 13 starts at Wisconsin, where he spent 2018-20.
Texas Tech senior decisions
The following Texas Tech players who are seniors in 2022 have the option of playing another season in 2023. Here are decisions they've made in that regard, as announced by the players themselves or Texas Tech athletics personnel.
Staying (12): WR Xavier White, C Dennis Wilburn, C Cade Briggs, DE-DT Myles Cole, DT Tony Bradford, DT Jaylon Hutchings, LB Tyrique Matthews, CB Malik Dunlap, CB Rayshad Williams, CB Cameron Watts, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, S Tyler Owens
Leaving (7): RB SaRodorick Thompson (training for NFL), OG Weston Wright (training for NFL), OT Ethan Carde (transfer portal), DE Tyree Wilson (training for NFL), LB Patrick Curley (non-football job opportunity), S Reggie Pearson (transfer portal), PK Trey Wolff (training for NFL)
Pending (4): QB Tyler Shough, TE Henry Teeter, S Cam White, P Austin McNamara
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Six more Tech seniors to return in '23, bringing total to 12
