Texas Tech’s passing game is out of whack right now, and the issue starts with the “Z” wide receiver spot.
That’s where the Red Raiders are getting almost nothing. In Friday night’s 28-26 win over Houston, Tech managed just one catch from that position, a five-yard grab by Donte Lee Jr. Micah Hudson was blanked.
That kind of production gap is hard to ignore. Through three games, the trio listed at “Z” - Hudson, Lee and Leyton Stone - has combined for only six catches and 61 yards.
Meanwhile, starting “X” receiver Kenny Johnson has become the clear engine on the outside, leading the team with 13 catches for 230 yards and a touchdown. He’s on pace for 51 receptions, 920 yards and four scores.
Even Tech’s backup “X” receivers have outproduced the entire “Z” group. Malcolm Simmons and Bryson Jones have totaled four catches, 79 yards and one touchdown.
That imbalance looks especially sharp when compared with last season, when both outside spots were active parts of the offense. In 2025, Reggie Virgil, the starter at “X,” caught 57 passes for 705 yards and six touchdowns, while Caleb Douglas at “Z” finished with 54 catches and seven scores.
That kind of spread forced defenses to respect both sides of the field. This year, the concern is that opponents will start shading a safety toward Johnson because there’s no comparable threat opposite him.
Hudson was supposed to help prevent exactly that. Instead, 2026 has not delivered the breakout many expected. The junior started all three games but has only three catches for 44 yards and no touchdowns, a pace that would leave him at just 12 receptions for the season.
The disappointment is tied to a long and complicated path back to Lubbock. Hudson arrived as a five-star recruit in the class of 2024, but an injury kept him out of spring practice and most of the summer, which limited his grasp of the offense and left him buried on the depth chart.
After catching just eight passes for 123 yards as a true freshman, he transferred to Texas A&M, though that stop lasted only briefly. He returned to Tech before the 2025 season, but the two offseason moves cost him spring and summer work again.
This offseason was supposed to be different. Hudson finally had a quiet, normal summer in Lubbock, and the expectation was that he’d be ready to show what made him such a high-profile recruit in the first place. That hasn’t happened.
Against Houston, the problems showed up in key moments. Late in the first half, with Tech trying to take the lead into the break, Will Hammond threw toward Hudson down the right sideline.
Hudson slipped, went to the turf and the ball was intercepted, killing the scoring chance. Then, late in the third quarter, on a 4th-and-3 at the Houston 29, Hammond went back to Hudson again, and the receiver couldn’t haul in a contested pass that should have been made.
That’s not the kind of impact Red Raider fans expected from the highest-ranked offensive recruit to ever sign with the program. Right now, Tech’s passing game is leaning too heavily on Johnson, and the “Z” spot is doing little to ease the load. If Hudson can’t turn it around, the Red Raiders may need to find someone else who can give that side of the formation a pulse.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Got An Early Answer On A Key Defensive Newcomer
Texas Tech got an encouraging first look at Trey White on Sept. 18, when the defensive newcomer made his debut after recovering from knee surgery just three weeks earlier. White wasted little time getting involved, finishing with two tackles and a sack in the victory against Houston, giving the Red Raiders an immediate glimpse of how he can fit into the rotation once he settles in.
White was part of a broader defensive reset in the game, with safety Brenden Jordan also making his season debut and transfers Jamond Mathis and Davin Martin logging their first starts. Jordan and linebacker Ben Roberts paced the defense with 10 tackles apiece, a sign that Texas Tech is still sorting out its pieces but may be finding answers in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Darrion Williams Just Gave Texas Tech Real Hope For Next Season
A McLennan County judge gave Darrion Williams and 30 other players a temporary reprieve this week, keeping them eligible to play while their lawsuit against the NCAA moves forward. For Texas Tech, that matters well beyond a single roster decision, because Williams now remains in the picture for the 2026-27 season while the legal process plays out.
The Red Raiders are also waiting on separate eligibility rulings for other players hoping to gain a fifth year, which leaves the staff in something of a holding pattern as it tries to plan ahead. Until those decisions are settled, Texas Tech can at least breathe a little easier knowing Williams is not immediately out of the mix, even if the bigger fight is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Still Has One Big 12 Question After That Close Call
Texas Tech escaped Houston with a narrow win, and in a Big 12 race where early impressions can change quickly, that kind of result still carries weight. The Red Raiders have stayed in the conversation as the conference has started to sort itself out, and the latest power ranking snapshot entering Week 4 reflects a league that already feels unsettled, with West Virginia making one of the biggest climbs.
What the close call also leaves hanging is whether Texas Tech has fully answered the bigger question about where it belongs in that pecking order. The schedule will keep offering chances to settle it, but for now the Red Raiders remain part of the weekly debate rather than a clear step ahead, and that is the part worth watching as the Big 12s next round of games approaches. [Read more 🡒]