No. 12 Texas Tech expects another top defense, even after 6 NFL draft picks from that side

Texas Tech lost some big defensive dudes after winning its first Big 12 Conference championship and making the College Football Playoff.

Six of them were taken in the NFL draft last April, four in the first three rounds. Edge rusher David Bailey was picked No. 2 overall after an FBS-leading 14 1/2 sacks in his only season with the Red Raiders. He was on The Associated Press All-America first team with quarterback-turned-linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, their leading tackler the past two seasons who was fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and drafted in the second round.

Even with all those players gone, the 12th-ranked Red Raiders could again have one of the nation’s top defenses. Coach Joey McGuire said they could actually be better because of their depth, including seven defensive tackles who have started college games.

“Yeah, I really do think the talent overall is way deeper. I mean, we’re three-deep on the D line. The whole secondary is back, way more experienced,” returning cornerback Brice Pollock said. “When you look at the linebackers, I think all of them can go to the league too. So I think we’re going to have even more draft picks this year.”

Well-funded Texas Tech again bolstered its roster with experienced players out of the transfer portal. It was similar to last year when adding the other since-departed draftees: third-team AP All-America defensive tackle Lee Hunter, edge rusher Romello Height, safety Cole Wisniewski and tackle Skyler Gill-Howard.

Bailey, after three seasons at Stanford, became the highest draft pick for the Red Raiders since tight end Dave Parks was their only first overall pick in 1964 by San Francisco. Three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the 10th overall pick by Kansas City in 2017.

The Red Raiders are showing that they ‘play defense in Lubbock’

Tech, which is home for its season opener Saturday night against FCS team Abilene Christian, also has back second-team AP All-America defensive tackle A.J. Holmes Jr. and fourth-year starting linebacker Ben Roberts, the defensive MVP in last year's Big 12 championship game when he had two interceptions.

“I think throughout the nation that we’re slowly earning that respect, is hey, we play defense in Lubbock, Texas,” Roberts said.

The Red Raiders were third nationally last season allowing 11.8 points and 258 total yards a game. That was 23 points and 203 yards less than 2024, the best year-by-year improvements by any FBS program since 2000. They had a national-best 32 takeaways last season, when 83.5% of the drives against them ended with a punt, turnover, or a turnover on downs.

“This year, all around, I think at every position, we have guys at an elite caliber,” Roberts said. “Sure, they don’t have the same freakness that some of those guys had last year, but we play with a different level of effort and a different level of like knowing your job beforehand. So I think in that area this might be a better defense than we’ve ever seen at Tech.”

Holmes came to the Red Raiders from Houston with defensive coordinator Shiel Wood, and said he knew during the first spring practice in 2025 that they were going to be a top defense because of all the talent.

“The same feeling I got last year, I’m getting it again,” Holmes said.

The Red Raiders have a lot of experience in their newcomers

There are a dozen defensive newcomers going into at least their fourth year in college, among them senior transfer edge rushers Adam Trick and Trey White.

Trick had 12 1/2 tackles for losses last season at Miami (Ohio), and White at his hometown school San Diego State was one of only two players nationally with at least 19 sacks and 29 TFLs the past two seasons.

Wake Forest transfer Mateen Ibirogba was one of the top interior defensive lineman in the portal. Linebacker Austin Romaine had 184 tackles (110 solo) the past three seasons at Kansas State.

The final result last season drives Tech's returning defenders

While they set a school record with 12 wins, and got a first-round playoff bye as a top-four seed, the 23-0 loss to Oregon in the Orange Bowl playoff quarterfinal still stings for the returning players.

“You’re hungrier for more because the way we ended wasn’t well,” Holmes said. “So last year was just a stepping stone, now it’s time to take that next step.”

Pollock said they talk a lot more about that Orange Bowl loss than their overall success.

“Last year kind of feels like a bad dream. Not like a nightmare, like I’m having a good dream and it ended early,” Roberts said. “So you want to go back to sleep and finish the dream.”

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