10 Most Impactful Players for Texas Tech Football this Season
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Here is a closer look at ten Red Raiders who look to have meaningful and positive impacts for this upcoming season in Texas Tech's quest to the national championship game.
Ben Roberts
Texas Tech linebacker Ben Roberts is earning recognition on the national stage as it gets ready for the 2026 college football season, landing on several major preseason watch lists. That includes the Butkus Award Watch List that recognizes the top collegiate linebacker in the country. He's also on the Lombardi Trophy watch list, which is awarded to the top college football lineman or linebacker displaying outstanding performance and character. Roberts also is on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, presented each year to the top overall defensive player in college football. Finally, he is also on the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy watch list, which honors FBS student-athletes who excel in community service, academics, and athletics.
The expected impact for the Red Raiders’ defensive anchor and tackle machine is significant. Roberts was the second-leading tackler for Texas Tech in 2025 with 90 total tackles (44 solo) and 4.0 tackles for loss. He’s got solid instincts, attacking efficiency and sideline-to-sideline range.
Roberts has shown he elevates his game on the biggest stages after a stellar run in which he was named the 2025 Big 12 Championship Game Most Outstanding Player. With former teammate Jacob Rodriguez now playing in the NFL, Roberts takes on a key leadership role to keep Texas Tech’s linebacker room among the absolute best in the country.
Terrance Carter Jr.
Texas Tech senior tight end Terrance Carter Jr. has received plenty of national attention leading into the 2026 college football season, making several high-profile preseason watch lists and teams.
He has been named to the Mackey Award watch list, which honors the nation's most outstanding collegiate tight end. Carter Jr. is also on the watch list for the Lombardi Trophy, which goes to the top college football lineman, linebacker, or tight end who shows outstanding performance, character, and discipline. He is also on the Preseason All Big 12 Team as the conference’s best tight end at the start of the season. He is also on the Sporting News Preseason All-America (First Team)—named a first-team Sporting News All-American before the season, as well.
He is the Red Raiders nation’s top returning pass catcher. Carter is also one of Pro Football Focus’s highest-rated returning tight ends in the country heading into 2026. He is one of the top returning FBS tight ends in receiving yards, finishing with 624 yards on 55 catches and five touchdowns in 2025. His size (6’2”, 245 lbs.) and athletic ability as a pass catcher make him an ideal target in the middle of the field and a key red zone threat for the Red Raiders’ passing game. As a second-team All-Big 12 selection in 2025, Carter has developed into a key weapon and leader for Texas Tech in his senior season, helping orchestrate an explosive offense.
A.J. Holmes Jr.
Texas Tech senior defensive tackle A.J. Holmes Jr. has been named to the Outland Trophy watch list for the nation's best interior lineman. He is also on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list along with Ben Roberts. He’s also on the Lombardi Trophy watch list, just like Roberts. Holmes Jr. is on the watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, awarded to the top defensive player who exhibits integrity, maturity, performance, academics, and community. His biggest preseason honor is being tabbed Big 12 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by conference media, making him the projected top overall defender in the Big 12. He is a preseason All-American selection, earning All-American honors from major outlets such as ESPN, On3, and Sporting News.
Holmes is a standout in the trenches, heading into his senior season as one of the country’s top returning interior defensive linemen. He’s a constant disruptor in opposing backfields, coming off a 2025 season where he recorded 38 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks. Holmes is a key piece in Texas Tech’s stranglehold on the run defense (one of the best in the country in 2025, giving up fewer than 70 rushing yards per game). He can draw a double team, and that opens up linebackers to make plays.
Holmes, who earned AP Second-Team All-America honors in 2025, provides the Red Raiders with tremendous veteran experience and leadership on the defensive line as they defend their Big 12 crown and make another run at the College Football Playoff.
Brice Pollock
Texas Tech senior cornerback Brice Pollock has gained great national momentum heading into the 2026 college football season, as he was named to several prestigious award watch lists and preseason honors like some of his teammates.
He was named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list, which annually is given to the top defensive back in college football. Like some of his teammates, he is listed on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list and the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.
Pollock enters 2026 as the undisputed No. 1 cornerback for Texas Tech, responsible for covering the opposing team’s No. 1 wide receiver every week. Pollock transferred from Mississippi State prior to 2025 and had a breakout season, earning First-Team All-Big 12 honors.
He led the Red Raiders with 5 interceptions, adding 6 pass breakups and 48 tackles. Pollock played a giant part in Texas Tech’s defense, making the biggest year-to-year jump in the FBS in scoring and total defense in 2025. Pollock’s ability to limit big plays and create takeaways is vital to the success of the secondary as the Red Raiders come off a Big 12 championship and enter the season with high expectations.
John Curry
Texas Tech linebacker John Curry has been named to the Butkus Award watch list. Texas Tech is the only program in the nation with three linebackers on the 2026 preseason watch list (Curry, Ben Roberts, and Austin Romaine).
Curry assumes a much bigger role with 2025 Butkus Award winner Jacob Rodriguez heading to the NFL and Texas Tech’s deep linebacker room. Curry is known for his size, speed, and versatility and provides Texas Tech seamless coverage in space against pass-heavy Big 12 offenses while playing with high discipline against the run.
Curry, along with other watchlist honorees Ben Roberts and Austin Romaine, guarantees constant defensive intensity and line-of-scrimmage pressure with no drop-offs in rotation for Texas Tech.
Austin Romaine
Marquee transfer from Kansas State, Romaine fills Texas Tech’s middle linebacker spot. Romaine, a former All-Big 12 performer for the Wildcats, transferred to be part of arguably the best linebacker group in the Big 12. He brings top-end instincts and grit and experienced conference play, piling up 96 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss in his best 2024 season.
Romaine’s run-stopping ability and physicality when coming downhill give the Red Raiders one of the most imposing front sevens in the country as they look to defend their Big 12 crown, and he will be operating alongside John Curry and Ben Roberts in the middle of the defense.
J'Koby Williams
Williams is a central dual-threat weapon in the Texas Tech offense. In 2025, he had 1,525 all-purpose yards (12th nationally) with 868 rushing yards (6 TDs), 388 receiving yards (2 TDs), and more than 260 yards on return duty.
Williams and starting tailback Cameron Dickey became the first pair of 800-yard rushers in Texas Tech program history. His explosiveness from the backfield gives the Red Raiders a relentless one-two punch in the running game.
Williams is a big-time threat in the return game as both a kick and punt returner, notching a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown against Oklahoma State in his sophomore season of 2025.
Kenny Johnson
He, like Williams, is on the Paul Hornung Award watch list, which the selection committee gives yearly to the most versatile player in major college football. Texas Tech is one of few programs to have two players on the list.
One of Pittsburgh’s big summer additions, Johnson enters his senior year with a ton of high-level experience. He had his greatest season as a junior in 2025, catching 48 passes for 695 yards and 5 touchdowns and leading Pitt with 1,036 all-purpose yards.
Johnson is a talented returner who helps Texas Tech win the field position fight on kickoffs and punts. He averaged 12.8 yards per punt return (including a touchdown) and more than 30 yards per kickoff return in 2025. Standing 6’1” and weighing 195 pounds, Johnson gives the Red Raiders offense a proven, reliable target who can run the whole route tree, make tough catches, and create big plays after the catch with returners such as Micah Hudson and Coy Eakin.
Will Hammond
Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond isn’t on any of the big national preseason award watch lists before the 2026 season begins. Several of his Red Raider teammates on offense and defense made various watch lists, but Hammond starts his first full year as the program’s officially named starter after the Brendan Sorsby off-season saga.
Behren Morton, last season's starter, is now playing for the New England Patriots, and head coach Joey McGuire officially named Hammond the starting quarterback at Texas Tech for this season. Hammond has thrown over 1,100 yards and 9 touchdowns in his first two seasons as a reliever, showing good command when called upon.
Hammond has the dual-threat ability to provide the Red Raiders’ explosive offense with yardage gained on designed QB runs and scrambles, as well as downfield arm strength. If he can play above preseason expectations, Texas Tech will be national championship contenders.
With an elite, multi-talented running back room (Dickey and Williams) and a solid group of pass-catchers (Carter Jr.), the main goal for Hammond will be to make smart decisions, manage games, and distribute the ball effectively as Texas Tech looks to defend its Big 12 title and return to the CFP.
Cameron Dickey
Texas Tech junior running back Cameron Dickey has been chosen to the Maxwell Award watch list, an award given yearly to the most outstanding overall player in college football. People may recall Dickey also was a national semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award during his breakout sophomore season.
Dickey, who closed the 2025 season as the eighth player in program history to surpass 1,000 running yards, returns as Texas Tech’s lead back. He was the Big 12's leading rusher with 14 rushing touchdowns (16 overall) and 1,124 rushing yards.
Dickey and fellow playmaker Williams are one half of a historic Red Raider tandem that made Texas Tech one of only two programs nationally to feature two running backs with over 1,300 all-purpose yards in 2025. Dickey is consistent and has power between the tackles and can finish in the red zone. Texas Tech has a solid base to build off of with a new full time starting quarterback running the system, as they look to defend their Big 12 championship and make a long run in the CFP.
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Ryan Kay is a journalist who graduated from Michigan State in 2003 and is passionate about covering college sports and enjoys writing features and articles covering various collegiate teams. He has worked as an editor at Go Joe Bruin and has been a contributor for Longhorns Wire and Busting Brackets. He is a contributor for Texas Tech On SI.