There was a FanPost earlier in the year that noted that Texas Tech is offering quite a few dual threat quarterbacks rather than the traditional pass-first quarterbacks such as Graham Harrell or Seth Doege. I do think there is some truth to this as the last of Leach's quarterbacks, Jacob Karam and Scotty Young have both transferred, Karam to Memphis and Young to Louisiana Tech, and many think that the biggest reasons for their transfers is because of the emergence of Michael Brewer and the fact that he passed both Karam and Young in the depth chart.
We'll get to the Texas Tech 2013 targets in a bit, but I did want to clarify some thoughts about Brewer, who is also thought to be a dual threat quarterback, but that's not entirely accurate. As a junior at Lake Travis, Brewer passed for 4,450 yards, 43 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, while he did run 114 times for 615 yards and 23 touchdowns. Assuming that Lake Travis played 14 or so games Brewer's junior year (probably more considering they went on state title runs both his junior and senior year), that's about 8 carries a game for 40 to 50 yards and about 300 passing yards a game. I don't know if I consider that a dual threat in the truest sense of the word. In any event, in Brewer's senior year, where he was injured for a good part, his passing numbers decreased dramatically, throwing for only 220 yards a game and running for 57 yards a game. That looks more like a dual threat quarterback, but for me, I think after seeing Brewer in the spring game, that he's a passing quarterback that can tuck the ball and run. In my mind, Brewer is still a passer first and foremost.
Dave Campbell's Greg Tepper has a list of the top signal-callers in the state that's worth a read and gives you an idea as to are the elite, and it pretty much consists of this list except I haven't included the player that has committed to TAMU.
These are players who have actually been offered. I pulled this list of quarterbacks from 24/7 Sports and Scout and then cross-referenced through the Rivals site. I think that Rivals/RRS.com has a much better idea of who has actually been offered than any other site, so I use them to confirm this information. In any event, these are the players that currently have offers from Texas Tech:
Tyrone Swoopes (6-4/220) Whitewright (Whitewright, TX)
Swoopes is a dual threat quarterback, but there's no sense in talking much about Swoopes as he's committed to Texas. Swoopes may be one of the best payers in the state, so you offer him and hope for the best. It didn't happen, so you move on.
J.T. Barrett (6-2/205) Rider (Wichita Falls, TX)
[UPDATE ] I added this in the comments, but Barrett has committed to Ohio St. Scratch this one from your list of options.
I don't know if Barrrett or Hill are the next best quarterbacks, but they are neck-and-neck in my mind. Barrett is maybe as wanted as Swoopes and Hill, with offers from almost everyone, from Arizona, to LSU, Nebraska, Ohio St. and Texas Tech. Barrett finished with 1,604 passing yards and rushed for 1,515 yards. That's as dual threat as you're going to get. If you want to read up on Barrett, he's a recent Q&A from ESPN. For those of you who don't recall, current Red Raider Eric Ward went to Rider, so that's the biggest connection. In watching his film, he's got a really strong base, incredibly fast and a very good arm. Still looks a little mechanical in his delivery, but that's expected with a dual threat quarterback, it's going to take some time.
More after the jump, including Kenny Hill, Cody Thomas and Cord Sandberg.
Kenny Hill (6-1/200) Southlake Carroll (Southlake, TX)
Personally, I think that Hill is the better passer of Swoopes and Barrett and like the other two, he's got offers from a ton of schools, including Baylor and Texas A&M (who both already have quarterbacks in their 2013 class), Stanford and Texas Tech. For the year, Hill had 1,383 rushing yards and 3,006 passing yards. Again, watching the film makes me think that Hill is the better passer of the three and not close to the quality of runner. Still, he's incredibly effective. I couldn't find a highlight film, but I did find this video (Southlake is in White) and Hill is highlighted quite a bit. I'd love to have either Barrett or Hill and I think that Texas Tech would be lucky to have either.
Cody Thomas (6-5/210) Colleyville Heritage (Colleyville, TX)
This is the first pro-style quarterback, like the other three, has a ton of offers, including USC, Florida, Auburn, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, etc. Thomas is a true drop-back passer, hangs in the pocket until the last minute, has terrific footwork and is probably more Taylor Potts than Michael Brewer. I think for the year Thomas only ran for 48 yards last year, so he's not at all a running quarterback, but he's also being asked to do what he does on film, which is throw the ball. He already has the size and he's plenty mobile to work in a spread offense or a pro-style offense and he is elite, but just a different type of elite from Swoopes, Barrett or Hill.
Cord Sandberg (6-3/211) Manatee (Bradenton, FL)
Sandberg has a ton of offers, so if I had go guess the likelihood of a guy that's in SEC country to come to the Big 12 seems remote, but I'm guessing that this offer is a result of offering a really good player that seemingly every other school has offered, that just happens to be out of state, so you take a shot, like almost every other program, and see what happens. Sandberg passed for 2,187 yards and ran for 813 yards. I think the chances of landing a guy like Sandberg are slim, but it can't hurt.
Up next . . . the players that haven't been offered, but are interested in Texas Tech.