Texas Tech Recruiting Roundup, 4/2

Last week I ended my weekly recruiting feature with the poll question of "What position will be our "signature" commit this year?" and you guys answered. The top three vote-getters were Defensive Line (43%), Quarterback (35%) and Wide Receiver (14%). This week I will be taking a look at three recruits at each of those positions who could be "that guy" for our 2016 class.

Mark Jackson | Defensive End

Steele High School (Cibolo, TX)

24/7: 93 | Rivals: 4-Star | Scout: 4-Star | ESPN: 4-Star

Mark Jackson would be a great addition for Texas Tech on the defensive front and solidify himself as the defensive centerpiece for the 2016 class. Last year Jackson had 52 tackles, 29 of those being for a loss, and 10 sacks. When more than half of your tackles are for a loss that's saying something. Jackson is quick off of the edge, he can hit the linemen with a quick move or simply lower his shoulder and get around the would-be blocker. His quickness allows him to hit the ball carrier as soon as he gets the ball, sack the quarterback or force bad passes. Jackson has been getting a lot of attention as of late but one advantage we would have is he is from Cibolo Steele. With Tech having ties to Steele (Mike Jinks) maybe we can get a leg up on other programs.

I usually use videos I find via Hudl but Jackson's videos are set to private and to view them you have to have an account which is reserved for coaches and scouts. If you look around the web you can stumble across some film on him but it unfortunately doesn't contain an embed-able code for me to insert into the article.

D'Eriq King | Dual-Threat Quarterback

Manvel High School (Manvel, TX)

24/7: 91 | Rivals: 3-Star | Scout: 4-Star | ESPN: 4-Star

Last year I was fairly hopeful that we would land the talents of D'Eriq King. From everything I was reading it looked like we were strongly in the running for him then in January he put his recruitment process to an end (is it really ever at an end) and committed to TCU. As us Tech fans know just because someone is a verbal commit it doesn't mean they will stick around to sign the LOI. Last class we managed to get J.F. Thomas away from TCU and I'm holding out the same hope for King. He had a monster season last year throwing for just over 3,000 yards and racking up 47 TDs to just 3 INTs. He also added almost 800 yards on the ground along with 12 TDs. He's listed at 5'10" but we all have seen what Kliff did with a shorter dual-threat QB.

Devin Duvernay | Wide Receiver

Sachse High School (Sachse, TX)

24/7: 95 | Rivals: 4-Star | Scout: 4-Star | ESPN: 4-Star

Duvernay would be a home run for Texas Tech. He primarily works from the slot and his bread and butter is screens and seam routes. Duvernay is downright fast. He can catch the ball behind the line of scrimmage and easily take it 50+ yards or hit the seam on a go route or a post across the middle and simply burn the secondary. He can also be deadly in the return game. If Tech was to land Duvernay he could easily fill in for Jakeem Grant and be the next great slot receiver.

Texas Tech put a finishing touch on their 2015 class last week by landing OT Paul Stawarz. Stawarz played JUCO ball at College of DuPage so he comes in with some experience. This was a nice addition for the Tech offensive line because we desperately need the depth. Stawarz along with the other offensive line commits from the 2015 class will provide the much needed help.

2016 Football Commits

Collin Wilder: Safety, Katy High School (Katy, TX)

Da'Leon Ward: Running Back, Skyline High School (Dallas, TX)

Donte Coleman: Tight End, West Mequite High School (Mesquite, TX)