Red Raider Review

5 Red Raiders Accept Invites to Senior Bowl Ahead of Busy NFL Draft Season

Texas Tech is set to take over Mobile, Ala., as five seniors have accepted their invites to the 2026 Senior Bowl. Which stars will be in attendance?
Jordan Epp|
Texas Tech's Caleb Douglas runs after a catch against UCF during a Big 12 Conference football game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Texas Tech's Caleb Douglas runs after a catch against UCF during a Big 12 Conference football game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Senior Bowl is a great opportunity for upperclassmen to perform in front of NFL coaches, scouts, and front office personnel. The nation's top players compete against other top prospects to boost their stock ahead of the NFL Draft. With a 12-1 record, the Big 12 champion Texas Tech Red Raiders are set to have several names heavily involved in the draft process.

In early December, the Senior Bowl announced that it had extended invites to six Red Raiders. As of Wednesday, Dec. 17, five of them had accepted their invites, with only linebacker Jacob Rodriguez yet to accept his.

At the moment, Texas Tech is set to have five representatives in Mobile, Ala., for the 2026 Senior Bowl: edge rushers David Bailey and Romello Height, interior defensive lineman Lee Hunter, and wide receivers Caleb Douglas and Reggie Virgil.

All five players excelled in 2025 and have placed themselves firmly in the NFL Draft process. While the Senior Bowl expanded its rules last season to allow juniors, every representative from Texas Tech is a senior with an impressive journey that led them to this point.

Bailey started his college career at Stanford, where he emerged as one of the top true pass rushers in the country in 2024. Despite nearly committing to UCLA over the offseason as a transfer, he pivoted late to Tech and dominated. He proved he was more than a pass rusher, accruing 17.5 tackles for a loss and a nation-leading 13.5 sacks.

His running mate, Height, was also a standout pass rusher for the Red Raiders, totaling a career-high 9.0 sacks (fourth in the Big 12) through the first 13 games of the season. Tech was his fourth stop in his career, beginning at Auburn before spending two seasons at USC and one at Georgia Tech. Height is in his fifth season and has improved every year.

Both will have a chance to prove their versatility on a defensive front and show they can compete with the best offensive linemen in the country at the Senior Bowl.

Another member of Tech's fearsome defensive front is Hunter, who was a wrecking ball in the middle. His 330-pound frame helped him make an impact in the running game (82.7) and passing game (74.7) with career-high grades from PFF across the board.

He briefly crossed paths with Height at Auburn in 2021, though Hunter played no games and redshirted. The defensive tackle spent his next three seasons with UCF before joining the Red Raiders in 2025. Hunter is also a Mobile, Ala., native, attending Mattie Thomas Blount High School, creating a full-circle moment for his football career.

On offense, Douglas and Virgil will have the chance to prove their route-running chops and show off their big-play abilities against some of the best defensive backs in the country. Both have proven they can fly and make plays at every level of the field.

Douglas, a former Florida Gator, joined Tech in 2024 after two seasons in the Sunshine State. He has scored 13 touchdowns in two seasons while averaging over 850 receiving yards in scarlet and black.

As for Virgil, he spent his first three years with Miami (OH), where he averaged over 20 yards per catch. He immediately proved he belonged at the Power Four level with 676 yards and eight total scores.

All five Texas Tech athletes will have the opportunity to be challenged by their peers and pro personnel alike as they prepare for the next stage of their football careers. The Red Raiders will likely have multiple players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, and the Senior Bowl is the first step.

According to its website, 106 Senior Bowl players were drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft, with 50 going in the first three rounds. This has earned the all-star event a reputation as a doorway to the NFL and a privilege to receive an invite.

The week leading up to the Senior Bowl will include several practices, drills, and opportunities for players to meet with pro staffers and establish relationships with players and personnel. The game itself will take place on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at Hancock Whitney Stadium at 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. local time).

Until then, the Red Raiders' representatives still have plenty more opportunities to build up their stock and prove themselves on the gridiron. With their first-round bye, Tech advanced directly to the quarterfinal round and will play at the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. They will face the winner of the Oregon-James Madison game in the first round, which takes place on Saturday, Dec. 20.

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Jordan Epp
JORDAN EPP

Jordan Epp is a journalist who graduated from Texas A&M in 2022 and is passionate about telling stories, sharing news, and finding ways to entertain people through the medium of sports. He has formerly worked as a writer and editor at The Battalion and The Eagle, covering football in College Station, Texas, and served as the managing editor for PFSN.

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