Texas Tech Football Things: Madison Akamnonu to Have Back Surgery

Kliff Kingsbury: It’s time for the non-transcript.

I really liked from what I saw from the junior college players, Tony Jones made a couple of plays where he flashed with his speed, Vaughnte Dorsey was coming downhill and hitting people, Jaylon Lane isn’t afraid of hitting people, Octavious Morgan had a couple of nice plays on bubble screens where he got off the block and made the tackle, nice to see them when the lights came on and respond the way they did . . . [more on Tony Jones] I think he’s got a great skill set at our position, as far as chasing the football, being athletic, striking people, he’s got all of that, just study stuff during the summer, we’ll have Jordan [Brooks] back and Dakota [Allen] back, we’ll have a pretty deep athletic linebacker corps with those pieces . . . [how Nic Shimonek looked in Midland] I thought we started slow, he was making the right reads, we just had some third and shorts we didn’t convert, he’s tried to force some things, pleased with his leadership, his understanding of the system and operated at a high level . . . [what the team needs to improve upon] need to get better at tackling in open field and offensively, eliminate the pre-snap penalties, need to chase the ball on offense and try to get better at those . . . [format of scrimmage in Frisco] maybe more open field play-it-out drives, but very structured . . . [status of Madison Akamnonu] he’ll be out for the next few months, procedure on his back, hope to get him back by the start of summer workouts . . . [alternative procedures on Akamnonu] few weeks back, tried some alternative things, that will happen on Friday and he’ll be back for summer workouts . . . [more on Akamnonu] from what I’ve been told, they feel great about his prospects getting back . . . [Patrick Mahomes’ pro-day on Friday] just have fun, it’s kind of the icing on the cake, more of an opportunity he gets to script, it’s his show, he can cut it loose and have fund . . . [progress of Jack Anderson] he’s got a strong opportunity there, it is how quick he can develop his pass sets, he was more of a run type offense, just get better at the pass sets . . . [Dawson Deaton and Will Farrar thus far] Deaton has learned guard and center, Farrar we’ve put at right tackle, he may be a guard later on . . . [how the other guards, Bailey Smith and Jacob Hines] we’ve got a ways to go, got to get stronger and tougher and better overall, Bailey is ahead because Jacob just came in . . . [asked about Connor Killian] he’s a tough kid, knows where to go every time, I like that he’s a very heads-up football player, he was more of a linebacker body . . . [Mason Reed] hope to have him back next week . . .

The “Connor Killian” mentioned is Connor Killian, a redshirt freshman tight end and long snapper from Kller. Killian stands 6’2″ and 235 and just adds another blocking back for Texas Tech, which I like. Reed was seemingly the lone guy that played as a fullback along with Tyler Scalzi.

 LAJ’s Don Williams writes about CB Desmon Smith and his adjustment to the Big 12:

This spring, junior-college transfer Octavious Morgan has run with the first team from day one at one cornerback with Jaylon Lane backing him. Most recently, Smith and senior D.J. Polite-Bray have competed on the other side. Douglas Coleman who, like Smith, played last season as a true freshman, has gotten most of the first-team snaps this spring at nickel back.

“In my opinion, I’ve gotten a lot more patient,” Smith said. “I’m starting to get a feel for the game, more confident. Once I can get more confident in myself, I’ll fly.”

Junior safety Jah’Shawn Johnson said Smith’s making strides.

“He’s come a long way,” Johnson said. “He’s very aggressive in the run game. He’s long. He gets his hands on people and stops them. He has great ball skills, and he’s getting better with the coverages. He’s a great tackler. He just keeps pushing for it.”

Practice photos.

LAJ’s Don Williams has more on the Akamnonu surgery. As mentioned above in the non-transcript, Akamnonu was slated to start at right guard and Jacob Hines and Bailey Smith are filling in, but they need improve according to Kingsbury.

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