Todd Walker hasn't practiced the first two nights. As you know, Tech is hush-hush with injury information. However, Todd came into the Football Training Facility on Sunday, players reporting day, and looked groggy and not well. I was told it's a respiratory infection or something of that nature.

So I"m assuming that's the reason he's not been out there for the first two workouts.

Former Tech LB Mike Smith and former Tech WR Jarrett Hicks were at practice on Monday night. Tuesday was basketball coaches night. Tech basketball coach Pat Knight stopped by as did longtime Shallowater basketball coach Ray Morris, who checks in when time permits to see how his son, Eric, is doing.

I also visited with Andrew Swofford, who was ringleader of the well-populated "78 Posse'' that I did a feature on a couple of years ago. That was the special cheering section that former Tech OT Gabe Hall had. I have to admit, I did a double take when Swoff approached me. He said he's dropped 83 pounds -- down to a svelte 235. Way to go, Andrew. Thought those who know him would be pleased to hear that. And he's moved back to Lubbock, too, after some time in the Metroplex.

With day three of college football practice comes shoulder pads. With shoulder pads comes tackling.

That's what's in store for Wednesday's Texas Tech practice.

"We'll tackle every day as long as coach (Mike Leach) allows me to be defensive coordinator,'' Ruffin McNeill said Tuesday night. "We'll tackle every day -- before practice, during drills and during practice. We're going to work on tackling. That won't change.''

That's a sure way to many a Tech fan's heart, based on the last few years.

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.