Texas Tech football hopes to make a solid step forward in 2024. Last season, the Red Raiders struggled early but ended 7-6, including a victory against California in the Independence Bowl. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire is starting his third season with the Big 12 team and hopes for additional victories in 2024. The Red Raiders made several changes in the transfer window to help them win, and one addition in particular should benefit the squad significantly this season.
The Red Raiders received a significant boost in their secondary from the transfer portal. Safety Javeon Wilcox is joining the Red Raiders after spending the previous season at Texas Tech’s Big 12 league opponent TCU. Wilcox is a former 4-star high school prospect, according to 247Sports. He joins a secondary that has lost some firepower since the 2023 season. The Red Raiders lost two safeties, Tyler Owens and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, following the previous season.
The Wilcox pickup helps shore up that safety room. Wilcox redshirted during the 2023 season with TCU, but that doesn’t mean he’s green. The young man was highly recruited out of high school. As a senior playing football at Texas’ Lake Belton High School, Wilcox recorded 125 tackles. That’s impressive, to say the least. Wilcox also had three interceptions, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery that season, per TCU’s communications. He was the no. 67 overall prospect in the state of Texas the year he came out of high school. If one follows high school football recruiting, you can see that Texas has a rich pool of players year in and year out. Wilcox is an under-the-radar player that should help the Texas Tech secondary and give them a lift in 2024. He’s got four years of eligibility left, which means the future is bright for the young man in Lubbock.
Texas Tech needs some help on defense. In 2023, the team gave up a total of 338 points. The Red Raiders also gave up a total of 2,979 passing yards, which was one of the worst marks in the Big 12. Only six other teams in the conference gave up more passing yards last season than Texas Tech. With the loss of two safeties, the Red Raiders need all the help they can muster to strengthen their pass defense.
