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Today, we get a look at the inside receivers, which should be led as camp opens, with Bradley Marquez and Dylan Cantrell looking at the Y-receiver and Jakeem Grant and Jordan Davis at H-receiver (via LAJ). This will be a new position for Marquez and here's offensive coordinator Eric Morris on the move:
"This will be the third position (Marquez) knows," said Morris, who coaches the receivers. "He’s a super smart kid that you tell him once, he knows it, goes out there, executes it.
"We’ll move him inside so he has those reps and understands the ‘Y’ position. We’ll let him and Dylan battle, and if Dylan wins that competition, then Bradley can bump just about anywhere he wanted."
Morris also talks about how Grant has been motivated since he didn't start against Texas and he's been as good as ever. Other options at the Y-receiver are Zach Austin and Brad Pearson and at H-receiver is Brent Mitcham. This article also confirms that Carlos Thompson, Jacob Hurla and Hunter Weishuhn are no longer on the team.
I do think that there's a pretty strong possibility that some of the guys that are currently pegged as outside receivers could be making a move in the spring. There's just so much competition outside, it seems like they could spread the wealth a bit as the inside receivers maybe aren't as talented.
Links:
Kingsbury Q&A: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury talked with Jake Trotter (via ESPN) about everything. The thing that is catching the most interest is Kingsbury's comments about how he had a good relationship with his quarterbacks that transferred and whether or not this is sincere or for serious or something. At this point, I really don't care all that much if they had great relationships with Kingsbury because, as I've always thought, a head coach isn't going to besties with every player because that's unrealistic and if we focus on two or three players that wanted to transfer (which again points to the SI article that states that this is somewhat of an epidemic as this happens a lot of places, although not to the extent that it has at Texas Tech) rather than the large majority that appear to be totally buying in. And make no mistake that I think this is a problem with playing time more than anything else.
There's 70 or 80 players that are on the team that seem to think that things are okay, plus a high school commit in Patrick Mahomes that doesn't see this as a problem or he wouldn't have committed. Maybe this is just me having my head in the sand, but at some point, it doesn't really matter if Kingsbury had great relationships with them because you can't please everyone. It's just impossible to appease all of them because only one guy can really get the starts. Maybe Kingsbury has reached out and mended some fences and has wished them well on their journey. It's a terrific Q&A and you should take the time to read it. Here's a bit:
What was the biggest need you wanted to fill in this class?
Kingsbury: We felt like with the starters we were losing on defense, we needed immediate help on that side of the ball. This was a defensively heavy class. We have several jucos who can make an impact right away. That was the biggest deal, finding instant impact defensive players, especially defensive linemen to shore up our run defense, which really cost us during that five-game (losing) stretch. I felt like we did that.
How did you get Nigel Bethel II (ESPN 300 cornerback) all the way from Miami?
Kingsbury: It was huge. That was a relationship (cornerbacks coach) Kevin Curtis had worked on. He stayed with it even after Nigel committed to Miami. He was a Miami kid, but when he came out to a game, he loved the atmosphere and enjoyed the visit. We played up the fact that we play in a conference that throws more than anyone. We play a lot of man coverage, where you can do your thing. He was excited about getting a chance to do that in the Big 12.
Early Impacts: Landon Wright has his list of predicted early impact players and it's tough to argue with those JUCO guys at the top of the list (via WreckEm 24/7). I absolutely agree with Rika Levi, Dominique Robertson, Josh Keys, Marcus Smith and Devin Lauderdale being in the top five.
Hoping for Season Ticket Sellout: The ticket office is hoping for a sellout of season tickets and hope for 10,000 season ticket sales this year (via LAJ).
Game-By-Game Breakdown: Mike Graham revealed yesterday that he was going to be changing jobs and would no longer be working for Red Raider Sports and the DMN, that he would be working for ETSN.com, which is all about East Texas sports. We wish Mike the best and good luck! In one of his final pieces, he does a game-by-game breakdown (via DMN).
Amaro at the NFL Combine: Ubben runs down the winners and losers of the NFL combine and thinks that Amaro is a loser due to the fact that he didn't run the fastest 40 and dropped a bunch of passes in the pass-catching drills (via FSSW). The 40 time doesn't bother me, but dropping passes does bother me. I don't think it will affect his draft status.
Junior Day Roundup: Pretty good review of the junior days around the state of Texas and which players were at which college and this includes Texas Tech (via Texas Football).
32 Minutes and 42 Seconds with Barry Switzer: I don't care if I'm not supposed to love Barry Switzer, but I do. Just a terrific interview with the former Oklahoma head coach (via Grantland).
