Good things: Tech looking to find tight ends more in 2023 season

When Joey McGuire's daughter Raegan got married recently, the Texas Tech football coach's mother bumped into Tech tight ends coach Josh Cochran with a suggestion: The Red Raiders need to find the tight ends more. "She goes, 'Good things happen whenever we throw it to the tight end,' " McGuire said, relating the story. "And Josh goes, 'I agree with you.' Whenever the tight ends make a big play, he always says, 'If you want to win, throw it to the tight end.' " The Red Raiders' top four tight ends — in order on the depth chart Baylor Cupp, Mason Tharp, Henry Teeter and Jayden York — all are returning from the team's 8-5 season in 2022. Why haven't the Red Raiders targeted that position more? It's one of the questions Tech fans pose most often. Those players' physical stature no doubt makes them more captivating. Tech lists Cupp at 6-foot-6, 260 pounds, Tharp at 6-9, 270, Teeter at 6-4, 255 and York 6-4, 250. Last season, they combined for 30 catches for 293 yards and five touchdowns. Cupp and Tharp led the way with 12 catches and two TDs each. Why can't one of them snag 40 balls for 600 yards? "I'm hoping that's what we have this year," McGuire said. "That is the plan. Whether it's the combination of two catching 60 balls or one guy having 40 and one guy having 20, I really do feel like that's where we're going in this offense." Their lack of attention in the passing game is not for lack of playing time. Tech most often deployed from 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) and sometimes 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends). The Red Raiders typically used four wide receivers only on long-yardage downs or when they needed to go hurry-up and make up a deficit in the second half of games. Cupp and Tharp both have battled injuries. Cupp was a national top-100 recruit coming out of high school, spending his first three years at Texas A&M. After two seasons lost to a gruesome ankle injury with eight fractures and a shoulder labrum surgery, Cupp began to come into his own last season. He caught four passes for 65 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown in a 37-34 overtime victory over Texas and caught the game-winning touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter of a 14-10 win at Iowa State. "It was nice having a full season of playing," said Cupp, who started six games and played in 12. "I wouldn't say I was fully healthy. I was dealing with some shoulder stuff that has healed now, and now I feel really good." Tharp missed the last three games last season and was a non-contact participant during spring practice because of concussions. Teeter has been a rotation regular for two years, and York emerged as an option through last season and spring practice. "I think and really hope they become even a bigger part of the offense," McGuire said, "because especially the first two with Baylor and Mason, those guys can do so much. They've got really great hands. Because of Josh Cochran, I think those guys have improved so much in the run game as far as blocking. "When we go tempo, because they can do so much, they can line up anywhere." McGuire said Cupp "had a phenomenal spring." "I'm hoping he has the year we expect and we get a tight end drafted," McGuire said. "And then the two behind them, Teeter and York, they're kind of the Swiss Army knives. They're tough guys. They can play everywhere."