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2007 Review and Preview: Texas Tech Wide Receivers

By Seth C

Prior Reviews/Previews:

Who Is Gone:

No. Player Pos. Ht./Wt.
8 Joel Filani WR 6-3/216
88 Jarrett Hicks WR 6-3/212
9 Robert Johnson IR 6-1/218
90 Michael Dorsey IR 6-5/234

Probably one of the more talented crop of receivers in Texas Tech history is now a memory. Now it's up to Tech to simply reload with a number of the returning players and by all accounts, I think that the Red Raiders have the talent, it's just getting these guys to figure it all out before conference play.

Who Returns:

No. Name Pos. Yr. Exp. Ht./Wt. Comment
5 Michael Crabtree WR Fr. RS 6-2/208 Projected starter.
25 Landon Hoefer WR So. 1V 6-0/197 Project.
80 Adrian Reese WR So. 1V 6-6/203 Contributor
4 Todd Walker WR Jr. 2V 6-1/178 Contributor
87 Daitric Williams WR Fr. RS 6-4/215 Walk-on, has potential.
89 Brik Brinker WR Fr. RS 6-1/173 Project.
10 Christian Sterling WR Fr. RS 6-1/183 Project.
27 Edward Britton WR So. 1V 6-0/177 Contributed as a freshman.
7 Kelly Hildebrandt IR Sr. 1V 5-8/179 Project.
20 Danny Amendola IR Sr. 3V 5-11/177 Projected starter.
12 Eric Morris IR Jr. 2V 5-8/174 Contributor.
86 L.A. Reed IR Jr. 2V 6-2/201 Projected starter.
16 Grant Walker IR Sr. 1V 6-0/189 Contributor.

New Recruits:

Player Post. Ht. Wt. Comment
Jacob Amie WR 6-4 224 May have immediate impact.
Jacoby Franks WR 6-0 170 Project.
Rashad Hawk WR 6-3 180 Possible contributor.
Detron Lewis WR 6-0 190 May have immediate impact.
Tramain Swindall WR 6-2 163 Project.
Lyle Leong WR 6-2 158 Possible contributor.
Adam James TE 6-2 230 Possible contributor.

I'm not going to pull one over on anyone. Trying to determine who is going to play which particular position is difficult to gauge at this point. I've broke down the receivers into wide receivers (WR) and inside receivers (IR) and thought that the top 4 should start regardless of their technical position.

There's an awful lot of good things to say about having 3 senior receivers who are the backbone of your passing game, but there is a day or reckoning if you haven't recruited appropriately. For reference purposes, Tech recruited 4 receivers in 2004 (Amendola, Marquis Johnson, Reed and Morris), 3 receivers in 2005 (Cunigan, Britton and Todd Walker), and 4 receivers in 2006 (Leon, Harris, Crabtree and James). Tech really tried to restock in 2007 with 5 (Amie, Franks, Hawk, Lewis, Swindall). There are some other's that I'm missing, bygones. Also, I have very high regard for Crabtree, in fact I think he's going to break every record at Tech. He's hungry and anxious to begin. I know that's awfully fool-hearted, but I don't care, I'm a fan.

Let's try to figure out some sort of depth chart for the years to come. The list below is my guess at the top 8 receivers for each year until 2010.

  • 2007
    1. Michael Crabtree, RS Fr.
    2. L.A. Reed, Jr.
    3. Danny Amendola, Sr.
    4. Grant Walker, Sr.
    5. Todd Walker, Jr.
    6. Adrian Reese, So.
    7. Edward Britton, So.
    8. Jacob Amie, Fr.
  • 2008
    1. Michael Crabtree, So.
    2. L.A. Reed, Sr.
    3. Todd Walker, Sr.
    4. Adrian Reese, Jr.
    5. Jacob Amie, So.
    6. Edward Britton, Jr.
    7. Detron Lewis, RS Fr.
    8. Lyle Leong, So.
  • 2009
    1. Michael Crabtree, Jr.
    2. Adrian Reese, Sr.
    3. Jacob Amie, Jr.
    4. Edward Britton, Sr.
    5. Detron Lewis, So.
    6. Lyle Leong, Jr.
    7. Rashad Hawk, So.
    8. Tramain Swindall/Jacoby Franks, So.
  • 2010
    1. Michael Crabtree, Sr.
    2. Jacob Amie, Sr.
    3. Detron Lewis, Jr.
    4. Lyle Leong, Sr.
    5. Rashad Hawk, Jr.
    6. Tramain Swindall, Jr.
    7. Jacoby Franks, Jr.
    8. Adam James, Sr.

I had a lot of trouble figuring out where each of these players are supposed to go and I've left out a number of the returning players like Hoefer, Diatric Williams, Brinker, Sterling, and Hildebrandt because I don't know anything about these guys. They may end up being glue guys like Welker, the Walker brothers, etc., but I've never seen any of these guys take a snap.

We also don't know what Leach intends to do in terms of redshirt years. If it were me, the only guy I wouldn't redshirt would be Amie, just because it seems like he's got some talent. But even then I hesitate just a little to let him see the field in 2007. There's plenty of talented receivers who are capable of playing, which would give Amie and the rest of the group time to mature.

Have fun with this list, it's meant to spark a little conversation and some controversy.

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