One of the greatest frustrations voiced by Texas Tech football fans during the 2024 season has been the limited playing time that former 5-star signee Micah Hudson has received this year. In fact, the true freshman who was a high school All-American has been utilized in only one specific offensive package, Tech’s five wide receiver look.

Of course, it has been a while since we’ve seen Hudson at all as he’s missed the past two games with a lower leg injury, and on this week’s injury report, he is again listed as “questionable” to play against Oklahoma State. If he is able to suit up against the Cowboys, though, Tech fans should expect to see him in a new role, according to head coach Joey McGuire who spoke to the media on Monday.

“We’re hoping that Micah is able to go,” he said. “We’ll see as the week goes because I’d like to see him as a punt returner. That would be the plan if he can go. If not, it’s going to be against West Virginia because we feel like we should be able to get him back by then.”

This news will likely make many Red Raider fans happy because the overwhelming majority of the Tech populace has been angry about, puzzled by, and critical of the lack of playing time that Hudson has received this year. Though he has flashed his impressive athletic talent when on the field, he’s been limited to situational usage and garbage time minutes thus far despite being the highest-ranked high school player to ever sign with the program.

He’s appeared in 8 games catching just 8 passes for 123 yards. He’s yet to find the endzone though he has been close to picking up his first career TD on a couple of occasions.

What’s been maddening is that Tech hasn’t tried to manufacture ways to get him the ball. He is arguably the most explosive offensive player on the roster yet he hasn’t been used in the screen game, there have been no jet sweeps where he’s been able to carry the ball, nor have there been any packages where it was clear that the objective was to utilize Hudson’s natural talent.

Putting him as the punt returner would be the first time that Tech has specifically taken a step to involve Hudson as a focal point in any aspect this year. That’s what Red Raider fans have been waiting all season to see.

Putting him as the punt returner would be the first time that Tech has specifically taken a step to involve Hudson as a focal point in any aspect this year. That’s what Red Raider fans have been waiting all season to see.

This year, Josh Kelly and Coy Eakin have been Tech’s two main punt returners. Neither has impressed in that role.

Kelly began the year manning that job but in recent weeks, he’s given that duty over to Eakin due to nagging injuries that have limited Kelly’s ability to make people miss in the open field. For the year, Kelly has eight returns for a total of just 29 yards. That’s an average of only 3.6 yards per return.

Meanwhile, Eakin has no official returns to his credit as he’s simply fair caught every punt he’s fielded. The only other player on the roster with a punt return this year is senior wide receiver Jordan Brown who has returned two punts for a total of 18 yards.

Thus, Tech is obviously looking for more playmaking in the return game. Perhaps Hudson could provide that.

If he does, it will be the first way in which he’s consistently helped the team this year. Of course, he started his Tech career fighting an uphill battle after missing all of Tech’s spring practices and most of the summer workouts following offseason knee surgery. Because of that, he hasn’t picked up the entire offense yet (as is the case with most true freshmen) and he’s been slotted into one position, which has been to be the backup to Caleb Douglas who is second on the team in receptions (47) and yards (610).

Hopefully, Hudson will be ready to return against Oklahoma State because it appears that when he does play again, this coaching staff is ready to give him a shot at returning punts. Though that won’t be enough to quiet all of the complaints about his lack of usage this year, should it happen, it would be a nice step toward getting something out of a player that McGuire tabbed a “generational talent” in the offseason.