Last year, while visiting Texas Tech, a staff member turned to me and pointed to a pickup truck pulling out of the parking lot. "That's Will Hammond," he said. "He's the future." Hammond arrived on campus as a tentpole blue-chip recruit in Joey McGuire's rebuild of the program, long before the major investment came.
A record-breaking passer at Hutto High School outside of Austin, he led the state of Texas in passing as a senior. A wave of offers came late, but Hammond never wavered. The sophomore started a few games for the Red Raiders last season as Behren Morton's backup, but his season was ended by a torn ACL against Oklahoma State.
The staff wasn't planning to invest in a starting quarterback over the offseason, but Hammond's injury pushed the staff to swing for transfer Brendan Sorsby. But amidst the chaos of Sorsby's gambling saga, Hammond quietly remained ahead of schedule. McGuire initially told reporters that Hammond would be ready for Week 3 against Houston.
Instead, he managed to fight back in time for Week 1. On Friday, he gets his long-awaited close-up as the No. 13 Red Raiders host No. 22 Houston in perhaps the biggest game of their season. In two starts, Hammond has been efficient.
The record-breaking high school quarterback completed 76.7% of his passes for 487 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in wins over Abilene Christian and Oregon State. There have been very few miscues. The only interception came on a toe-tapping sideline play by an Abilene Christian defensive back, who just made a nice dive.
But while Hammond has avoided mistakes, he hasn't necessarily challenged the defense either. Hammond's average depth of target of 7.1 yards ranks 39th out of 44 quarterbacks with his 68 pass attempts. Nearly two-thirds of his attempts have been within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.
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