{"id":128546,"date":"2026-01-19T01:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/128546\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T01:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:18:08","slug":"red-raiders-reload-at-linebacker-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/128546\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Raiders reload at linebacker, more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Tech<\/a> is not a repeat portal king in 2026, but finishing second in On3\u2019s rankings and securing a consensus top-two player showed the Red Raiders intend to remain a constant buyer.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech saw an immediate return on investment from its 2025 class, finishing as Big 12 Champions and reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time. A large chunk of those purchases went on to the NFL Draft, and a handful of homegrown talent will also be heading to the next level. <\/p>\n

So, how will the new batch of portal additions pan out? Below is a breakdown of Texas Tech\u2019s 2026 transfer class:<\/p>\n

Best addition from the portal<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

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Regardless of positional value, Brendan Sorsby is Texas Tech\u2019s big win of the cycle<\/a>. He was garnering NFL interest in the early rounds and had some of the biggest programs in the country asking for his talents, yet he came to Lubbock. <\/p>\n

Texas Tech is still in the transitional period of proving it\u2019s not a one-hit wonder, and programs like LSU have the backing to get in a bidding war for Sorsby. So, earning a commitment from Sorsby is a testament to the changing landscape of the sport.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Sorsby is also everything the Red Raiders lacked in their most critical game. Texas Tech\u2019s multi-year starter Behren Morton has multiple big wins under his belt, but his career was plagued by injuries and inconsistency. It was never a glaring issue because Texas Tech wasn\u2019t competing at the highest level until the Red Raiders met their demise in the CFP against Oregon<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The addition of Sorsby puts the Red Raiders in position to compete with CFP teams on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n

Biggest loss to the portal<\/p>\n

Texas Tech did a good job retaining its returning starters, but it lost a large chunk of its depth pieces. Outside linebacker Cheta Ofili<\/a> more than likely wouldn\u2019t have started for another season or two with Texas Tech\u2019s 2026 portal additions, but his ceiling never changed. <\/p>\n

Ofili was touted as the next man up<\/a> by star edge rushers David Bailey and Romello Height. The two senior Red Raiders joined at the start of Ofili\u2019s redshirt freshman season, and both said Ofili was like a little brother, always asking questions on how to be better. He never got the snaps his peers and coaches talked him up to get during the 2025 season, but losing his frame, combined with the knowledge gained under Bailey and Height, is a blow to the depth of the outside linebacker room.<\/p>\n

The 6-4, 240-pound Rowlett native transferred closer to home to play at TCU<\/a>. He\u2019ll return to Lubbock during conference play in 2026.<\/p>\n

Under-the-radar additions<\/p>\n

Texas Tech is positioning itself to be regarded as a dream destination for linebackers. Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Shiel Wood turned Jacob Rodriguez into an All-American and a Chuck Bednarik Award winner while also developing a rotational linebacker into an All-Big 12 linebacker in John Curry during the 2025 season. <\/p>\n

Now, Wood has added ex-Kansas State linebacker Austin Romaine<\/a> and ex-Houston linebacker Corey Platt Jr. to his arsenal<\/a>. Wood will also retain Curry, All-Big 12 linebacker Ben Roberts and budding redshirt freshman Brock Golwas, forming one of the nation\u2019s top linebacker corps for a consecutive year.<\/p>\n

Romaine was an All-Big 12 selection in 2025 and has 184 career tackles over three seasons. Platt is a former product of Wood when the two were at Tulane in 2023, but Platt was injured in the season opener and missed the rest of that season and all of 2024. He had 15 tackles in the lone game he played under Wood.<\/p>\n

Biggest remaining need<\/p>\n

Texas Tech spent $5 million on its new quarterback but has only picked up one rotational guard to help protect him. The Red Raiders will return their tackles and center from last season, while internal movement is expected at the guard position. However, Texas Tech gave up 27 sacks in 2025, including multiple that led to injuries for Morton.<\/p>\n

Tackles Howard Sampson and Jacob Ponton are projected to start again, but of Texas Tech\u2019s guards in the waiting, there is no clear starter. Louisville guard Jordan Church was Texas Tech\u2019s lone addition across the offensive line. He has over 1,000 career snaps and is regarded for his run-blocking ability more than his pass-blocking ability.<\/p>\n

Sorsby is a mobile quarterback, but Texas Tech is more than familiar with how an injury can derail a season. <\/p>\n

Players can still commit, and there are a plethora of offensive linemen still available. Colorado\u2019s Jordan Seaton is the top prospect still on the market.<\/p>\n

Full list of commits<\/p>\n

Jordan Church, IOL, Louisville, 6-4, 310lb<\/p>\n

Corey Platt Jr., LB, Houston, 6-2, 215lb<\/p>\n

Trey White, EDGE, San Diego State, 6-2, 225lb<\/p>\n

Jalen Jones, WR, Alabama State, 5-9, 175lb<\/p>\n

Kenny Johnson, WR, Pitt, 6-1, 2025lb<\/p>\n

Kirk Francis, QB, Tulsa, 6-1, 200lb<\/p>\n

Austin Romaine, LB, Kansas State, 6-2, 245lb<\/p>\n

Jojo Johnson, DL, Oregon State, 6-2, 228lb<\/p>\n

Bryce Butler, DL, Washington, 6-5, 320lb<\/p>\n

Brendan Sorsby, QB, Cincinnati, 6-3, 235lb<\/p>\n

Malcom Simmons, WR, Auburn, 6-0, 186lb<\/p>\n

Mateen Ibirogba, DL, Wake Forest, 6-3, 296lb<\/p>\n

Julien Laventure, DL, Akron, 6-1, 270lb<\/p>\n

Adam Trick, EDGE, Miami (Ohio), 6-4, 249lb<\/p>\n

Davin Martin, CB, UTSA, 6-2, 180lb<\/p>\n

Donte Lee Jr., WR, Liberty, 6-3, 185lb<\/p>\n

Jett Carpenter, TE, Nevada, 6-3, 258lb<\/p>\n

Amarie Fleming, EDGE, Allen, 6-2, 230lb<\/p>\n

Jacob Hand, K, Stephen F. Austin, 5-11, 170lb<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s \u2018College GameDay\u2019 heads to Lubbock for Texas Tech hoops\u2019 showdown vs. No. 7 Houston<\/a>JT Toppin scores 27 points to lead No. 15 Texas Tech to victory over No. 11 BYU <\/a><\/p>\n

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Find more Texas Tech coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Tech is not a repeat portal king in 2026, but finishing second in On3\u2019s rankings and securing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7092,3688,27,29,28,415,3774],"class_list":{"0":"post-128546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-behren-morton","9":"tag-colleges","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-texas-headlines","12":"tag-texas-news","13":"tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","14":"tag-transfer-portal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}