Will Texas Tech football's Cameron Dickey redshirt in '24? Joey McGuire weighs in

Tahj Brooks finished last season as a Doak Walker Award semifinalist and college football's fourth-leading rusher in the FBS.

Behind him, it's not as if the Texas Tech football team's running-back room was thin. Cam'Ron Valdez was a young veteran with experience, and Bryson Donnell, Anquan Willis and JMaury Davis were young talents in the pipeline.

Then in January, first-semester freshman Cameron Dickey arrived and shook up the room. In the off-season, coaches moved Davis to defensive back, and earlier this week Donnell and Willis had their names entered into the NCAA transfer portal.

The room's emptying out might be traced to what Dickey showed this spring.

"Honestly, the difference ... is dramatic," Tech coach Joey McGuire said Wednesday, "in him carrying the football, pass protection. He's got great hands. I hate to compare him to Tahj or somebody like that, but he's different. He's very mature. He's very football-savvy, and it's dramatic whenever you see him versus some of the other guys."

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After spring practice concluded last year, McGuire raved about Willis. McGuire said the 220-pounder from Wichita Falls Rider reminded him of Abram Smith, the former Baylor running back who rushed for 1,601 yards in 2021 on a team that won the Sugar Bowl.

Now, Willis is leaving.

"Yeah, that should tell everybody a lot," McGuire said when reminded of his comparison. "More than anything, players know really quickly. If you ask our players, even though he's not going through spring, if you say, 'Who's one of our top wide receivers?' They're all going to say Micah Hudson. He hasn't even been through spring. I think those guys seeing Cam Dickey, they're all really impressed with him."

Dickey was a four-year varsity player at Austin Crockett, where he played a lot of quarterback. His career totals included 4,065 rushing yards and 61 touchdowns and 2,963 passing yards and 33 touchdowns.

A player who's not previously redshirted can do so by playing in no more than four regular-season games plus a bowl game. For as much as McGuire sings Dickey's praises, it might seem a foregone conclusion that he will play beyond the redshirt window, but McGuire said that's to be determined.

"I kind of hope not," McGuire said, "because that means Cam Valdez stayed healthy and Tahj stayed healthy, but he might also (play past four games), because he's 219 pounds right now and he's a very physical kid. It also kind of depends on what coach (Kenny) Perry wants to do on special teams with him and possibly redshirting. It's going to be how many snaps can we play him each game to make it worth him not redshirting."

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McGuire said last week he hoped to be "not active at all" in the current NCAA transfer portal period for more than one reason: He likes the current roster, believing it has depth, and the Red Raiders are tight on scholarships.

Even after Donnell, Willis and defensive tackle Tre'Darius Brown announced Tuesday they would look to transfer, McGuire said his view of the roster and need to shop the portal hasn't changed.

"Ours will be a lot of evaluation on finishing the spring game and see if we need anything, if we stay put," McGuire said. "Is there somebody on the team currently that maybe is a walk-on that we could put on (scholarship)? But no, we feel really good about (the roster). I think as this goes, people will kind of see that."

On Friday, defensive back Landon Hullaby announced he will transfer. Hullaby played in five games the past two seasons, but was knocked off course by hip and shoulder surgeries.

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This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Will Cameron Dickey redshirt or play in '24? Joey McGuire weighs in