CBS Sports: Joey McGuire, the head coach of Texas Tech, has announce the team decision to flip wide receiver.
As soon as Micah Hudson is back on the field, McGuire says Texas Tech wants to see him return punts.
The minimal playing time that former 5-star signee Micah Hudson has gotten this season has been one of the biggest annoyances expressed by Texas Tech football fans throughout the 2024 campaign. Actually, only one offensive scheme—Tech’s five wide receiver look—has made use of the true freshman who was an All-American in high school.
Naturally, we haven’t seen Hudson in a long time because he has missed the last two games due to a lower leg ailment, and he is once more labeled as “questionable” to play against Oklahoma State on this week’s injury report. However, head coach Joey McGuire told reporters on Monday that Tech fans should anticipate seeing him in a new capacity if he can play against the Cowboys.
Naturally, we haven’t seen Hudson in a long time because he has missed the last two games due to a lower leg ailment, and he is once more labeled as “questionable” to play against Oklahoma State on this week’s injury report. However, head coach Joey McGuire told reporters on Monday that Tech fans should anticipate seeing him in a new capacity if he can play against the Cowboys.
“We’re hoping that Micah is able to go,” he stated. “I would want to see him as a punt returner, but we’ll see how the week progresses. If he can go, that’s the plan. We believe we should be able to get him back before then, so if not, it will be versus West Virginia.”
Since the vast majority of the Tech community has been upset, perplexed, and skeptical of Hudson’s lack of playing time this season, this news is sure to bring joy to many Red Raider supporters. while being the top-ranked high school athlete to ever join with the program, he has only been used situationally and in garbage time minutes thus far, while displaying outstanding athletic ability on the field.
In his eight games, he has only caught eight receptions for 123 yards. Despite coming very close to scoring his first professional touchdown on a few occasions, he has failed to hit the end zone.
The fact that Tech hasn’t made an effort to come up with methods to get him the ball has been frustrating. Despite being perhaps the team’s most explosive offensive player, Hudson hasn’t been utilized in the screen game. Neither have there been any packages where it was evident that the goal was to capitalize on Hudson’s innate skill, nor have there been any jet sweeps where he has been allowed to carry the ball.
Using him as the punt returner would be the first time this season that Tech has made a conscious effort to make Hudson a focal point in any way. Red Raider supporters had been anticipating that moment all season.
Tech’s two primary punt returners this season have been Josh Kelly and Coy Eakin. In that capacity, neither has made an impression.
Kelly started the season in that position, but in recent weeks, he has delegated the responsibility to Eakin because of persistent injuries that have made it harder for Kelly to make people miss in the open field. Kelly has only returned eight passes for a total of 29 yards this season. That’s only 3.6 yards on average for each return.
