Special teams coach Clay McGuire said tonight that Mike Crabtree is being considered to return kickoffs, but not punts. Nothing's set in stone; it's just an experiment. But the thinking is if Crabtree can touch the ball another two or three times a game, then that could be another six points ... or better field position to start a drive or two.

As it stands, however, Detron Lewis and Edward Britton are the first pairing of deep men on kickoff returns.

Mr. Everything Mike Crabtree got some work returning kicks on Monday night. It's something that Tech coach Mike Leach evidently has signed off on.

"I think he'd be good at it and have (thought so) for a while,'' Leach said. "I think he'd have a chance to be pretty good at either one (returning kickoffs or punts), maybe better at punt.''

In any case, we probably haven't seen the last of Crabtree on special teams.

Will the Raiders do more with their star receiver in the kicking game?

"Yeah, probabaly,'' Leach said. "We'll see.''

For discussion purposes, I'll throw it out there for readers.
Do you:
A) Want Crabtree returning kicks, figuring the more the ball is in his hands the better?

Or
B) Not want Crabtree returning kicks, because it's a chance for some special-teams hero to light him up and send him to the sidelines for an extended period?

The Raiders made a position switch Monday that they had kept under wraps for the last couple of weeks. L.A. Reed, who went from WR to S in the offseason, is now going from S to CB.

Lest anyone wonder, Reed said it's not a first-week experiment.

"I'm staying at corner,'' he said. "I've just got to keep learning. We've got a good three weeks before the season starts. I stayed out here (Monday night) and did the second practice, too, to pick up some more reps so that I can learn it faster.''

So how come the switch and why now? I'd say the reasons are one thing that CBs coach Brian Mitchell said and one thing he didn't say. What he said was he wants the team to get taller at cornerback. Mitchell said he has nothing against 5-9 and 5-10 cornerbacks as long as they can run and jump.

But corners taller than 6-foot provide "some advantages,'' as Mitchell put it, that shorter corners can't.

So there's a solid reason why. But, hey. Reed was 6-foot-2 last December, too, when they moved him from offense to defense. They could have just as easily moved him to cornerback then, which would have given him all of spring practice to pick up nuances.

I asked Mitchell if Reed's move suggested that he wasn't sold on the other options at corner. He said no. Just a move to try to get the four best defensive backs on the field. And, if Reed emerges as a starter, it also makes the secondary an older group.

Reed was one of six seniors who had been bunched up at safety. The others: Darcel McBath, Daniel Charbonnet, Anthony Hines, Jordy Rowland and Lance Fuller.

"You don't need six safeties sitting there that are all seniors,'' Mitchell said. "You don't need your best athletes all at one spot. And if you were to look back there and say, 'Where are our best athletes with the most experience?,' they're all at safety. That right corner was unproven, because you haven't had a guy that's played that many minutes. We were willing to take a chance and we're still willing to take a chance to see which guy's going to step up. We're still going to get a rotation with those other guys and see what that gets us and still keep the competition going.''

Meaning, he hasn't closed the book on LaRon Moore, Brent Nickerson, Marcus Bunton, Pete Richardson, Taylor Charbonnet, De'Shon Sanders, Jarrell Routt and Jared Flannel. But the fact that Reed ran with the first team on opening night of practice to me is an indication of where he stands relative to the rest.

First off, Tech players couldn't have had a much better setting for the first night of practice. Even in the middle of a heatwave, Lubbock's usually known for having cool nights and mornings. Sure enough, it was pleasant as the Raiders worked out from 8 to 10 p.m. Monday. No wind, even.
"It was a lot cooler than I expected,'' offensive guard Brandon Carter said. "During the summer, it was pretty hot out here when we were working out. So it was nice to have a change. It's late. I'll lose a little bit of sleep, but I'd rather do that than it be so hot (in practice) right now.''

Reporting day's not what it used to be. Oh, sure, it's still as good a place as any to sound the bell for a college football team.

But not too many years ago, it was the day where players moved into a dorm or moved into University Plaza, luggage in hand, and you'd see moms and dads as well as the recruits.

I didn't see any of that Sunday as players quickly came and went from the Tech football training facility. Many of them have been here since just a few days after high school graduation, so the newness wore off weeks ago. Virtually all the freshmen already are well-acquainted with older teammates from a summer spent working out on campus.

Nevertheless, it's here and, as Baron Batch put it, he could barely sleep last night knowing that practice time was close at hand.

A reader asked if Tech is so good at defensive end that Brandon Sesay and McKinner Dixon are only third string.

Well, that's how Ruffin McNeill listed them to me the other day when we were going over the depth chart in the front seven.

There are a lot of things to consider here. In no particular order:
1) Yep, coming off spring practice, Tech really does look that deep and talented at defensive end. I believe playing time will be carved out for six: Brandon Williams, Daniel Howard, Dixon, Jake Ratliff, Brandon Sharpe and Sesay. Sandy Riley could get in there somehow, too.

2) A depth chart doesn't tell the whole story, the way football is these days. A guy might be third team on the chart, but first team in certain packages that depend on game situation. For example, if it's third-and-10, you can be assured that McNeill is going to have the players on the field that he views as his four best pass rushers. That could be Ra'Jon Henley and three ends or Colby Whitlock and three ends. Williams, for example, got snaps in just that fashion when he was a true freshman.

3) Whether they say so or not, I have an idea that players such as Brandon Williams and Daniel Howard think people expect them just to step aside and yield playing time to the JUCO transfers with the big reputations. I doubt they intend to, and they didn't play in the spring as if they expected to step back and accept any reduced roles. In fact, with the Joker rush man that Ruffin McNeill tinkered with in the spring, it looked as if he was trying to find new and creative ways to involve them more and play to their strengths. (Joker, for those who might have forgotten, deploys Williams or Howard as a roaming, standup rusher who could come at the quarterback from a variety of angles. A lot of times it was from what would loosely be described as standup-inside linebacker territory).

4) Competition for PT is going to be fierce at end. Williams should take a step up since it's his third year in DI football. Howard, former Tech DC Lyle Setencich once told me, has the kind of ability that you'd expect to see him on an OU or UT roster. Jake Ratliff didn't follow up in 2007 what he showed in 2006, but bottom line, he showed in 2006 that he can be plenty effective. There's no reason to think he can't bounce back.

5) To sum it up and get back to the original question: The depth at DE is very fluid and makes for a very interesting situation.

Texas Tech officials asked that new DE Brandon Sesay not do media interviews until he's finished with his summer-school class, so that means it could be a week or thereabouts before you see anything from him put in quotation marks.

The good news is Sesay is here and in good spirits. He was hanging out in the players' lounge Sunday afternoon during the reporting-day period and having fun -- playing a football video a game against freshman lineman Deveric Gallington, then a little table tennis with someone else, putting a bear hug on another teammate. Didn't look like a man doing much worrying.

Here is the Texas Tech depth chart going into the beginning of preseason workouts on Monday. I talked to six Tech coaches in assembling it, so this is straight from the coaches' mouths at nearly every position.

Keep in mind that there's competition at a lot of spots. And some players might be competing at more than one place. McKinner Dixon could play LDE or RDE, for example, and Brent Nickerson, though listed second at LCB, is in the mix to be the starter at RCB.

Anyway, this should give everyone a good idea of where just about everyone is penciled in and where coaches project each of the newcomers.


* — returning starter
OFFENSE
Pos. Player Ht. Wt. Cl-Exp
SE *Edward Britton 6-0 174 Jr-2L
Todd Walker 6-1 180 Jr-2L
Rashad Hawk 6-4 183 Fr-RS
Brik Brinker 6-2 199 So-1L
IR *Eric Morris 5-8 169 Sr-3L
Adam James 6-3 217 Fr-RS
or Blake Kelley 5-11 180 Jr-Tr
Cornelius Douglas 5-9 180 Fr-HS
LT *Rylan Reed 6-7 305 Sr-3L
Mickey Okafor 6-7 326 Fr-RS
Omar Castillo 6-6 282 Fr-HS
Terry McDaniel 6-7 330 Fr-HS
Adrian Archie (inj./out) 6-5 315 So-Sq
LG *Louis Vasquez 6-6 335 Sr-3L
Justin Keown 6-4 290 So-1L
Lonnie Edwards 6-5 288 Fr-RS
Deveric Gallington 6-4 347 Fr-HS
C Stephen Hamby 6-3 292 Jr-1L
*Shawn Byrnes 6-4 295 Jr-2L
Blake Emert 6-4 280 Fr-RS
RG *Brandon Carter 6-7 354 Jr-2L
Jake Johnson 6-7 370 Sr-1L
Landon Burge 6-3 286 So-Sq
Deveric Gallington 6-4 347 Fr-HS
RT *Marlon Winn 6-6 325 Jr-2L
Chris Olson 6-5 285 So-1L
Joe King 6-6 324 Fr-HS
Dominique Delpeche 6-5 363 Fr-RS
Jonathan Guerra 6-3 265 Fr-HS
IR Detron Lewis 6-0 209 So-1L
Tramain Swindall 6-3 175 Fr-RS
Adrian Reese 6-7 207 Jr-2L
Austin Zouzalik 6-1 175 Fr-HS
FL *Mike Crabtree 6-3 214 So-1L
Lyle Leong 6-1 165 So-1L
Landon Hoefer 6-1 200 Jr-2L
Jacoby Franks 6-1 194 Fr-RS
QB *Graham Harrell 6-3 205 Sr-3L
Taylor Potts 6-5 218 So-1L
Steven Sheffield 6-4 181 So-1L
Stefan Loucks 6-1 171 Fr-RS
Seth Doege 6-2 207 Fr-HS
FB Ryan Hale 6-1 227 Jr-2L
RB Aaron Crawford 5-11 199 So-1L
or Baron Batch 5-11 200 So-RS
or *Shannon Woods 5-11 194 Sr-3L
Harrison Jeffers 5-9 210 Fr-HS
Brandon Reid 6-1 210 Fr-HS
PK Cory Fowler 5-8 161 Sr-2L
Jonathan LaCour 6-2 208 So-1L
Donnie Carona 6-0 215 Fr-HS
DEFENSE
Pos. Name Ht. Wt. Cl-Exp
LDE *Jake Ratliff 6-7 255 Sr-3L
Brandon Sharpe 6-3 244 Jr-Sq Brandon Sesay 6-6 278 Jr-Tr
Ryan Haliburton 6-4 242 Fr-HS
NT *Colby Whitlock 6-2 285 So-1L
Chris Perry 6-3 308 Fr-Tr
Clint Stoffels 6-0 254 So-1L
Britton Barbee 6-2 282 So-Sq
DT *Ra’Jon Henley 6-3 266 Jr-2L
Richard Jones 6-1 272 Jr-2L
David Neill 6-5 263 Fr-RS
Joey Fowler (inj./out) 6-4 271 Fr-HS
RDE *Brandon Williams 6-5 246 Jr-2L
Daniel Howard 6-3 239 Jr-1L
McKinner Dixon 6-3 250 Jr-1L
Sandy Riley 6-0 237 Jr-2L
SLB Bront Bird 6-4 226 So-1L
Tyrone Sonier 6-2 215 Fr-RS
Julius Howard 6-1 210 So-1L
MLB *Brian Duncan 6-1 238 So-1L
Victor Hunter 5-11 256 Jr-2L
Sam Fehoko 5-11 236 Fr-RS
Chris Wallace 5-11 208 Jr-1L
WLB *Marlon Williams 6-0 224 Jr-2L
Blake Collier 6-2 211 Jr-2L
Julius Howard 6-1 210 So-1L
Riley Harvey 6-1 193 Fr-RS
LCB *Jamar Wall 5-10 195 Jr-2L
Brent Nickerson 6-0 195 Jr-2L
or De’Shon Sanders 6-1 198 Jr-RS
or Taylor Charbonnet 5-10 168 Fr-RS
Jarrell Routt 6-0 191 Jr-Tr
S Anthony Hines 6-1 222 Sr-3L
L.A. Reed 6-2 212 Sr-3L
Lance Fuller 6-2 217 Sr-3L
Franklin Mitchem 6-2 201 So-Sq
LaShawn Vation 5-9 194 Jr-1L
S *Darcel McBath 6-1 196 Sr-3L
Daniel Charbonnet 5-11 203 Sr-2L
Jordy Rowland 6-1 196 Sr-1L
Cody Davis 6-2 205 Fr-HS
RCB LaRon Moore 5-9 186 So-1L
or Marcus Bunton 5-8 192 Sr-3L
or Pete Richardson 5-11 185 Jr-2L
Jared Flannel 5-11 173 Fr-RS
Nathan Stone 5-8 175 So-1L
P *Jonathan LaCour 6-2 208 So-1L

This could be a different sort of August in that A) the Tech freshmen class is small to begin with and B) the team's experience and depth is such that there's not much need for the young guys to play right away.

It wouldn't surprise me if K Donnie Carona is the only true freshman to see the field this season. It would be nice if the Raiders could redshirt the rest.

Skill-position kids generally have the best chance to avoid a redshirt. RB Harrison Jeffers, who was the fourth-ranked recruit in Oklahoma, could force the issue, but again, it's not a need with Aaron Crawford, Shannon Woods and Baron Batch all competing for time at running back.

I asked Mike Leach whether Jeffers could play this season, and Leach said: "Harrison hasn't been here as much during the summer as some of the others, so I don't know what kind of shape he's in. My suspicion would be that some time getting in shape is going to be in order (for him).''

A couple of second-semester freshman, QB Seth Doege and DT Joey Fowler, were here in the spring, but the Raiders have no need to play a freshman QB and Fowler is still in rehab mode from a collarbone injury/surgery he suffered in spring ball. Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said Fowler "won't be available early, but he'll be in camp taking care of his body.''

I was just thinking ... The last time Texas Tech went into a season ranked as high as the Red Raiders will this season, I was rooting for Tech and getting ready to start my school-sports career going into the seventh grade at Kress Junior High.

We put on the pads for the first time in seventh grade for a road game at Hale Center. Beat the Owls and nearly everybody else that season, playing on a defense that gave up only three touchdowns in 10 games.

Of course, 1977 didn't turn out to be a year to remember for Tech since the Raiders lost Rodney Allison to a broken leg and finished 7-5 with a loss in the Tangerine Bowl. But it was kind of a landmark period for Tech football nevertheless.

It was for me anyway. Rooting for those Red Raiders when I was 12 years old probably had a lot to do with putting me on the road to covering the Red Raiders three decades later.

Did '77 resonate with meaning for anyone else out there?