The Texas Tech football team knew certain position groups would need near total rebuilds this off-season.
Starters completing their eligibility assured that would be the case at defensive tackle, cornerback and punter. Now wide receiver can be added to large-scale overhaul mode because of defections.
Jerand Bradley announced on Friday he will have his name entered into the NCAA transfer portal. The third-year sophomore caught 36 passes for 431 yards and four touchdowns this season.
He was a preseason all-Big 12 selection by media who cover the conference, coming off a 2022 season in which he caught 51 passes for 744 yards and six TDs.
Bradley’s announcement came one day after slot receiver-return man Myles Price said publicly he will have his name entered into the portal.
Bradley has two years of eligibility left. Price, who’s never redshirted, has two years remaining to play one season.
For players who have not earned degrees, the transfer portal is open from Dec. 4 through Jan. 2 and again from April 16-30. Players who have graduated may have their names placed into the portal at any time.
Assuming Price and Bradley follow through on leaving Texas Tech, the Red Raiders will go into next season without their top three receivers in 2023.
Xavier White, who runs out of eligibility, has 34 receptions for a team-high 495 yards and a touchdown. Price has 43 catches for 410 yards and five TDs, leading the team in catches and receiving TDs.
Bradley, over the last two games last season and the first two games this season, caught 29 passes for 432 yards and a touchdown in four consecutive games.
In those games, against Oklahoma, Mississippi, Wyoming and Oregon, he had more than 80 receiving yards in each. In 10 games since, he’s had more than 50 yards receiving only once and a total of two TDs.
Bradley was rumored to be considering a transfer to Oklahoma last off-season after the Sooners hired former Red Raiders receivers coach Emmett Jones. Tech coach Joey McGuire said he had no evidence of that, and Bradley denied it, calling himself “a Red Raider ’til I die.”
