Texas Tech enters August with a preseason No. 1 label in the Big 12 and a whole lot to sort out before the Red Raiders kick off the 2025 season. Practice starts Wednesday, Aug. 5, after local media day on Tuesday, Aug. 4, and the first week already offers a clear list of things to monitor.
The biggest one is the status of Will Hammond. His return has shifted from the Big 12 opener in Week 3 to a more realistic target of the Sept. 5 season opener against Abilene Christian, based on recent comments from Joey McGuire and Hammond about his recovery from the season-ending knee injury he suffered last October.
Hammond said on a Big 12 radio interview that his surgeon cleared him in early July, but head athletic trainer Michael Ramirez and the Tech medical staff will make the final call on when he’s fully released. With Brendan Sorsby no longer on the roster, Hammond’s availability carries even more weight if Tech wants to defend its Big 12 title.
Quinten Joyner is another major August storyline, though his path looks a little different. Like Hammond, he’s working back from an ACL tear, but the running back room is far more crowded than it was when he was sitting atop the depth chart before his season-ending knee injury in mid-August last year.
Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams both surged in 2025, with Dickey earning semifinalist status for the Doak Walker Award and Williams becoming a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award. Joyner, listed at 5-foot-11 and 220 pounds, has to shake off the rust and fight for touches in a group that already has proven production.
Up front, Tech’s offensive line has a strong backbone but two new guard starters to settle. Howard Sampson and Jacob Ponton are back at tackle, and Sheridan Wilson returns at center.
The openings are at guard after Will Jados and Davion Carter exhausted their eligibility. Jordan Church and Hunter Zambrano took those jobs from the start of spring practice, and McGuire has said he likes what he’s seen.
Still, both have something to prove: Church started just three games at Louisville last season, and Zambrano has played only five games over the past two years because of injuries and surgeries.
Defensively, the Red Raiders are trying to keep the pressure high after a banner year for disruption. Texas Tech led the FBS with 32 turnovers gained and tied for sixth nationally with 41 sacks.
That kind of production is hard to duplicate, especially with Jacob Rodriguez gone and with David Bailey and Romello Height also no longer in the picture. Even so, Tech returns key players at every level and added front-seven help in Adam Trick, Trey White and Austin Romaine.
The defense, which ranked third in the nation in scoring and allowed fewer than 12 points per game, should still be formidable, even if it has to grind a little longer to finish drives without those takeaways.
Safety is the final spot worth watching, and it already has a new wrinkle. Peyton Morgan ended spring as the first-team field safety after a three-man battle among sophomores, but Tech went and added Jordan Rogers nine days after the Sorsby split.
Rogers arrives from Pittsburg State as a Division II all-America safety and a sixth-year senior from Waco La Vega. Last season on a 10-3 playoff team, he piled up 85 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 10 pass breakups, 5 interceptions and 4 caused fumbles.
That spot still feels open enough for more than one outcome over the next month, with Rogers, Morgan, Oliver Miles III and Malik Esquerra all part of the mix. Miles missed most of spring with an ankle injury, while Esquerra brings a size-speed combination that could still push him into the conversation.
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Cameron Dickey Just Put Texas Techs Breakthrough Back In Focus
Cameron Dickeys breakout sophomore season has put him squarely on the radar again, and now the Texas Tech junior running back has been added to the Maxwell Award watch list. It is the kind of recognition that follows a player who didnt just produce, but helped define the season around him, piling up more than 1,000 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns while leading the Big 12 in both total and rushing scores.
The Maxwell Award list includes 81 players nationwide, with semifinalists and finalists set to come later in the season. For Texas Tech, Dickeys place on it is another reminder that last years surge was not a fluke, and it keeps the spotlight on how far he can carry that momentum as the Red Raiders push into the new year. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Has Real Reason To Believe The Hype This Time
Texas Tech is carrying more preseason buzz than it has in a long time, and for once there are reasons inside the program to match the national attention. Joey McGuire and defensive coordinator Shiel Wood met with local media ahead of preseason camp and emphasized the kind of depth this roster can draw on, along with the improvements they expect as camp gets rolling. The Red Raiders enter the fall ranked 12th in the preseason coaches poll, the highest spot in school history, which only adds to the sense that this is a different kind of September in Lubbock.
The real test begins quickly, with a Sept. 5 opener against Abilene Christian before conference play arrives on Sept. 18 against Houston. For a program trying to turn offseason optimism into something sturdier, the early weeks should say a lot about whether this ranking is a reflection of real progress or just preseason goodwill. McGuire and Wood clearly believe there is more behind the hype this time, and now Texas Tech has to prove it on the field. [Read more 🡒]