In 2024, the football team at Texas Tech hopes to make progress in the right way. The Red Raiders had a difficult start to the previous season but managed to win the Independence Bowl against California to close the campaign at 7-6. In his third season leading the Big 12 program, Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire is looking forward to further victories in 2024. To help them obtain those victories, the Red Raiders made a few changes on the transfer market, and one acquisition in particular should be quite beneficial to the squad this season.
The Red Raiders got a big pickup in their secondary from the transfer portal. Safety Javeon Wilcox is joining the Red Raiders, after spending last season with Texas Tech’s Big 12 conference rival TCU. Wilcox is a former 4-star high school recruit, per 247Sports. He joins a secondary that lost some firepower after the 2023 season. The Red Raiders lost two safeties, Tyler Owens and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, following the last campaign.
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.
