Kingsbury on Mahomes and Webb. FoxSports' David Ubben talked with Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury before the recruiting review in Dallas and Kingsbury talked a bit about where QB Patrick Mahomes was when he arrived at campus in the summer:

"When we first got (Mahomes on campus in the fall), I don't think he was approaching it as serious as he should have," Kingsbury said. "He was taking it as a backup role," "Davis was just ahead of him mentally and had done it and was running it, and I think he was a little frustrated. About mid-year, he started really studying and really working at it and he took off."

So it's interesting to see and read that maybe Mahomes not starting from the get-go was more of a matter of Mahomes accepting a back-up role rather than preparing as a starter. I guess we've somewhat been searching for answers as to why Kingsbury stuck with Webb as long as he did and this is as a definitive an answer that I've seen from Kingsbury and it certainly makes sense.  Once Mahomes started taking things more seriously, coupled with the idea that Webb was also injured, then the progression was noticeable.  There were huge jumps, and I mean huge jumps, in how Mahomes looked from one week to the next as far as my eye test.

Kingsbury was also asked about QB Davis Webb and said that he's been very supportive of Mahomes and the success he had:

"He's been very supportive," Kingsbury said of Webb. "He wants to be a coach when he's done playing and he's taken that approach. When Patrick was playing well, he couldn't have been more excited for him. I think we have two talented guys and I'm excited to see them compete."

Again, I hope that Webb sticks around because you never know what's going to happen in the course of a season, injuries and all sorts of things can happen, and having capable players is a good thing. Not perfect players, but capable players.

Favorite Signees. ESPN Big 12 blog bros asked opposing coaches which 2015 signees they liked the best from opposing teams and mentioned were RB Corey Dauphine, WR Tony Brown and LB D'Vonta Hinton.  Here are the bits on Dauphine and Brown and I'll make you click on over to read the one on Hinton:

Texas Tech WR Tony Brown: "He's smooth, a good route runner. He's a good get for them. Kliff [Kingsbury] got some good receivers."

Texas Tech RB Corey Dauphine: "I like him a lot. He was a good player and a 200-meter guy. Big, physical and fast. I have a feeling he'll cause people a lot of problems before he's done."

I don't find it surprising that not mentioned was DT Breiden Fehoko, simply because there's only so many players that a coach can watch and a coach isn't going to go find film of Fehoko since he wasn't probably being actively recruited by anyone else in the Big 12, except for maybe Oklahoma.  I think that's encouraging because arguably Texas Tech's best player is most likely an unknown to the rest of the Big 12.

Pre-Spring Big 12 Offensive Line Rankings. Also from the ESPN Big 12 blog bros, we get the pre-spring rankings and up next is the offensive line:

3. Texas Tech: Texas Tech encountered all kinds of problems last year, but offensive line wasn't one of them. All-Big 12 left tackle Le'Raven Clark was terrific protecitng the blindside of quarterbacks Pat Mahomes and Davis Webb, as Tech allowed only one sack per 43 pass attempts, which was among the best rates in the country. Center Jared Kaster and guards Alfredo Morales and Baylen Brown will all be three-year starters.

Miscellaneous. Think a good thought for Iowa State defensive lineman Mitchell Meyers who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Get well soon and fight the good fight . . . congrats to former Red Raider footballer Graham Harrell who was named outside receivers coach at Washington State . . . pretty interesting read from SI on how Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez wants to do away with National Signing Day entirely . . .