Here are five burning questions for Texas Tech football this offseason…
Who will be QB1 in 2026?
Texas Tech football outgrew the talent of its quarterback in one offseason. Behren Morton was a perfect fit for the Texas Tech program that existed in his four years prior, but head coach Joey McGuire’s unwavering loyalty to Morton may have cost this year’s team a shot at the national championship.
Morton will be graduating now, so the checkbooks are open for general manager James Blanchard to find a new QB1.
As of Friday, Blanchard and other Texas Tech athletes’ only public interest has been in Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Blanchard reposted Sorsby’s transfer portal announcement, and within an hour, 12 Texas Tech football players had commented on his post.
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Sorsby is rated the No. 1 quarterback available in the portal by On3. He is regarded as a potential first-round pick if he enters the NFL draft, but the money college programs are expected to offer will surpass a rookie contract.
Other names to watch are Florida’s DJ Lagway and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt.
Can Texas Tech’s defense do it again?
Texas Tech will lose five premier starters on defense to exhausted eligibility: DT Lee Hunter, ILB Jacob Rodriguez, OLB David Bailey, OLB Romello Height and S Cole Wisniewski.
Those five made up 337 total tackles, 29 sacks and 15 forced fumbles in 2025.
Texas Tech will hit the portal to fill a handful of the upcoming defensive holes, but the Red Raiders will retain a handful of players who can step up. Rodriguez’s counterpart, linebacker Ben Roberts, is atop that list.
Between the Big 12 Championship and the Capital One Orange Bowl, Roberts had three interceptions. He also had a career-high 16 tackles in Thursday’s loss.
Roberts and budding linebacker/safety John Curry will man the interior linebacker spots in 2026 alongside at least one portal addition.
What does Quinten Joyner’s return from injury mean?
USC transfer running back Quinten Joyner tore his ACL on Aug. 18 before taking a regular season snap with Texas Tech. He had not been named the primary back, but his name was circulated in game strategy more frequently than Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams.
Dickey and Williams had strong freshman campaigns in their minimal snaps played, but McGuire didn’t know their full capabilities yet. So, before Joyner’s injury, he intended to run a three-headed system with no true starter.
McGuire remained content to run a 1A and 1B system with Dickey and Williams following the injury. It panned out perfectly. Dickey was a 1,000-yard rusher, and Williams thrived as a runner, receiver and kick returner.
Heading into 2025, they were all high-reward, experimental running backs, but one of the three may not be satisfied to play another season as a rotational player. None have entered the transfer portal as of Friday, but Dickey and Williams’ 2025 tape could warrant a payday and a guaranteed starter tag at multiple P4 programs.
Is Micah Hudson a starter in 2025?
The Micah Hudson saga has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. From becoming Texas Tech’s first five-star recruit to being used sparingly as a freshman to then transferring to Texas A&M and back to Lubbock a semester later, Hudson has yet to have his opportunity.
He reportedly struggled to grasp the playbook during his freshman season, which warranted his minimal usage. Then, when he returned to Texas Tech, the talent was too good for him to be anything more than a rotational piece.
Hudson has pledged his loyalty to McGuire and Texas Tech, so his name will be amongst the replacements for starters Caleb Douglas and Reggie Virgil. It’s reasonable to assume Texas Tech grabs one or two receivers from the portal, but Hudson is in a prime position to earn reps over the offseason.
His most recent snaps came against West Virginia in the season finale, when he had two touchdowns in the waning moments of a blowout win.
Will culture survive heartbreak?
Texas Tech hung its hat on brotherhood this season. The talent was there at certain positions, but the culture McGuire built was a pillar of Texas Tech’s team-wide success.
However, Height noted in the locker room following Texas Tech’s 23-0 College Football Playoff loss that some players weren’t “locked in.”
No one was named, but there was evident frustration from defensive players with their offensive teammates. All of which is expected in the hour after a season-ending defeat, but if McGuire can’t reroute that energy into pushing for a title next season, it will hinder them.
Texas Tech is no longer the longshot team. There will be a huge shift in how team culture is established, going from the perennial middle-of-the-pack program to a place where the floor is now a playoff win.
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