One element missing from the 2022 Texas Tech football team was speed, especially on the offensive end of the ball. There weren’t many instances where a player in a Red Raider skill position was able to get behind the defense and break into the end zone. This left the attack with a smaller margin of error, as longer drives were usually needed for points.
So we knew adding speed to the roster would be one of head coach Joey McGuire’s goals this offseason. On Thursday, just one day after McGuire’s team ended its season with a stunning 42-25 victory over Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl, that goal was achieved in style when Austin Peay wide receiver Drae McCray announced his intention to transfer to Texas Tech. for his final two years of college football.
A 5-foot-7, 177-pound Florida native, McCray absolutely set the FCS ranks on fire last season. On his way to a 76-catch, 1,021-yard campaign, he surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark in four games. What’s more, he had nine touchdown receptions.
Now, one can just shrug those numbers off as he was facing competition from the FCS. However, he had an impressive showing this season against one of the top FBS programs in the country.
In late November, McCray was the only bright spot for the Governors in their 34–0 loss of Alabama. That day, he caught 12 receptions for 92 yards, including one for 32 yards.
McCray is a player who can get the best of a defense, something none of the 2022 Red Raider wide receivers could do on a regular basis. Capable of playing in the slot or on the outside, he looks like a perfect fit on the inside for offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, as Tech looks to be on the outside with two big receivers in Loic Fouonji and Jerand Bradley.
It’s fun to think of an offense that could go to four wide receivers, with McCray and Myles Price occupying the inside positions. When teamed up with Fouonji and Bradley, this duo could create serious match-up problems for opposing defenses, as Tech would have size advantages on the outside and speed advantages on the inside.
Hopefully Kittley will remember his time working with another extremely fast receiver, Jakeem Grant, who was at Tech when Kittley was a senior assistant on Kliff Kingsbury’s team. Kingsbury always prioritized Grant’s explosiveness and devised some creative ways to get the ball to the diminutive playmaker.
We already know that Kittley is willing to go the extra mile when it comes to creativity in his game designs and now, he’s got a new speedy toy to play with, so it should be fun to see how many different ways he incorporates McCray into Tech’s next onslaught. to fall.
Another reason this draft win is so important is that it prevents McCray from joining another Big 12 program. In addition to Tech, he was also being courted by West Virginia and Oklahoma State, as well as Oregon, Colorado, Mississippi State and several others.
Now, he’s decided to be a Red Raider and that should bode well for the 2023 offense. That’s because McCray instantly adds something to the roster that was missing this season, blinding speed.
