In his debut season with the Texas Tech football team, wide receiver Drae McCray established himself as one of the top kickoff return men in the country. Now Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire wants to expand his role.
McCray is McGuire's first choice to be the team's punt-return specialist. That's provided he can field punts cleanly and show the same instincts returning punts as he does kicks.
"We'll rotate them Game 1," McGuire recently told the Avalanche-Journal, "but we would love for Drae McCray to be the guy. Jordan Brown, Coy Eakin, Josh Kelly and Micah Hudson are the (others) that we're trying to figure out who the guy is. It'd be great if Drae became the guy. He's so strong whenever it comes to returning."
McCray said this week coaches had conveyed that to him.
"They told me the same thing," he said. "It honestly just comes down to me and how consistent I am if I'm going to be that guy or not. It's in my hands, really. I've just got to go out and do it."
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The 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior from Tallahassee, Florida, spent his first two years at Austin Peay before transferring to Tech.
He returned 26 kickoffs for 717 yards and a touchdown last season, his 27.6-yard average was fourth-best by a Red Raider since Tech began tracking the statistic in 1952. Within the Big 12, McCray ranked first in kickoff-return yardage, second in returns and third in average. Among qualifiers, his average ranked ninth in the FBS and his yardage total third.
McCray blocked a punt and ran it in his freshman year for Austin Peay. Despite being a skill-position player and an accomplished sprinter in high school, he's never returned punts in college, though.
"This will be new to me," he said, "so that's why they want me to be really consistent at it. High school and college punters are totally different, so this is going to be my first time doing punt return, but I'm excited for it."
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McCray's 100-yard return last year against Houston was Tech's first kickoff-return touchdown since 2017. Before he can run a punt back, he has to secure the football.
That's the main factor in whether he gets the job. Protecting field position is essential to Kenny Perry.
"You're looking anywhere from six to eight punts a game sometimes," the Tech special teams coordinator said, "so you've got to have a guy that can catch the football.
"I also look at it from the standpoint of a guy that can change the game. You get some of these punters that don't have as much hang time, they're going to outkick their coverage. ... There's a lot of pressure when (coverage) guys are running down there and you're trying to catch the ball in traffic. Kickoff return is pretty easy. The spin's easier. The ball doesn't move as much."
Tech receivers coach Justin Johnson works with return specialists year-round.
"A punt can change paths very easily," McCray said. "I think coach Juice does a great job of teaching us, though. Whenever you know how to read the ball, it becomes a lot easier, but you have to get reps at it and so many reps to realize, 'It's probably going drop right here or drop right there.'
"If it gets really high in the air, it can look like it's going to land in one spot, but in reality it's going to change and land somewhere else."
Coaches were encouraged by what McCray showed in the spring.
"He was much better," McGuire said, "but man, that's a lost art of catching (and) returning punts."
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This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Why Drae McCray is Plan A for Texas Tech football as punt return specialist
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