After a big recruiting weekend for the Texas Tech football program, in which the coaching staff sent numerous social media indications that they had made commitments in recent days, on Monday, the first of these new Red Raiders took your public decision. Prosper, Texas offensive lineman Ellis Davis tweeted the news that he intends to join Joey McGuire’s program for the 2024 season, making him the 10th high school player to commit to Tech in the current cycle of recruitment.
This is a huge win for McGuire and Co., literally and figuratively. At six feet tall and 275 pounds, Davis has the prototypical build to be a book-end tackle at the Big 12 level.
Figuratively, getting Davis is huge in the sense that he is a 4-star prospect, the #42 player in Texas, and the #20 offensive tackle in the nation (according to 274Sports.com). In addition to Tech, he has offers from the likes of Stanford, Auburn, BYU, Colorado, Florida State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, TCU, Tennessee, A&M, and Utah, among others.
Right now, he slots in as the second-highest-ranked high school recruit in the Red Raider class of 2024, behind Cheta Ofili, a defensive end from Sachse, Texas, who committed in April. With Davis now in the fold, Tech currently boasts the 22nd best recruiting class in the country and best in the Big 12, thanks in large part to also having the biggest class in the Big 12 at this point.
Adding excellent offensive line prospects to the roster is a must in any recruiting cycle, but especially now considering this offseason will see three projected 2023 starters, Cole Spencer, Rusty Staats, and Dennis Wilburn, all set to exhaust their eligibility this fall. What’s more, in 2024, starting tackles Caleb Rogers and Monroe Mills will be veterans, although because of the 2020 COVID-free season, each may return for one more run in 2025.
Still, it’s imperative that Tech starts developing a forward pipeline so the transfer portal isn’t where McGuire and offensive line coach Stephen Hamby have to turn annually to meet needs. We saw this offseason that Tech felt the need to pull Staats out of that pool to fill the starting center position, but the coaching staff missed out on other offensive line transfers that could make a difference, leaving that position group pretty weak in terms of depth this year and also putting a big question mark over the line for next year as both starting guards and starting center will move on after the upcoming campaign.
It’s clear that the line is a priority in this class, as Davis is already the fourth recruit in that position group to commit to the Red Raiders. The others are 3-star contenders Jacob Poton from Dripping Springs, Kasen Long from Shallowater and Holton Hendrix from Lubbock.
None of these players have the pedigree that Davis does, as he quickly becomes one of the standouts in this class. Now, we wait to find out what else McGuire and his coaching staff accomplished this past weekend.
