Emergence of former five-star WR Micah Hudson on the horizon?

One of the top storylines in the first month of the college football season has been the level of talent and playmaking shown among the true-freshmen wide receivers across the country.

The 2024 class was a special class at the wide receiver position, headlined by five five-star prospects, four of which finished ranked in the top-10 overall prospects in Jeremiah Smith, Ryan Williams, Cam Coleman, and Micah Hudson.

Of the group, the lone prospect to not have any significant playing time is Hudson, who finished as the No. 9 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle.

Asking a true-freshman to step in right away and make an impact is a tall task, and maybe even too much at times, but the expectation for Hudson was that he was going to be a real factor in Tech’s offense early in his career.

After all, head coach Joey McGuire said as much, tabbing him as “generational”.

“You’ll see (him) week one,” McGuire said at Big 12 Media Days back in July. “Micah Hudson–a couple of coaches have talked about (him as a) generational player. Like he is really special. He’s extremely athletic. But his maturity level and the love of football and just the love of the locker room, I haven’t been around a lot of people like that.”

Following those comments, saying we would see week one, Hudson played a total of just four snaps and was targeted zero times.

The following week, he would receive just six snaps, landing one target for a reception of four yards. Week three he would actually see a fair 27 snaps, where he caught three passes on five targets for 43 yards. At that time, it appeared his workload was ramping up.

That was not the case however as week four brought him just one snap. He logged a reception on that one snap.

Now, the questions are beginning to raise even further as week five, Hudson did not see a single snap of action. Nearly half way through his freshman season, Hudson has played a total of 38 snaps with five receptions on seven target for 47 yards.

Hudson’s usage and playtime would likely not be as big a talking point if it were not for the level of production the other wideouts ranked inside the top-10 have put on the field.

Jeremiah Smith has already become Ohio State‘s top receiver with 19 receptions for 364 yards and five touchdowns in his first four games. The former five-star prospect is making SportsCenter top-10 plays weekly.

Ryan Williams is already a household name himself among college football fans as he is far and way Alabama‘s top offensive weapon with 16 receptions for 462 yards and five touchdowns. His talent has never been on display more than the 75-yard game winning acrobatic display of elite athleticism against Georgia this weekend.

Cam Coleman has even carved himself a nice role with nine receptions on 18 targets for 212 yards and a touchdown for Auburn.

The reason McGuire provided early in the season for Hudson’s absence was that they could not find playing time for him. He cited the teams other receivers as unable to take off the field.

“Without a doubt, we’ve got to get [Hudson] more involved, but it’s kind of like at what point?” McGuire said. “Do we take Josh Kelly off the field? Do we take Caleb Douglas off the field? Do we take Coy Eakin off the field, just to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got Micah Hudson on the field?”

This is quite an interesting reason as opposed to the likes of Ohio State, Alabama, and Auburn who leaned in the opposite direction. I would argue perennial wide receiver powers Ohio State and Alabama have older playmakers on the roster, but they are putting their top talent on the field, regardless, of age or experience.

This is not to say Texas Tech’s older receivers are not talented. Kelly has 487 yards, Eakin has 307, and Douglas has 204. So the production is there, but who is to say Hudson could not elevate the offense even further? Or help put games away?

Texas Tech is 4-1 to start the season with three one possession high scoring shootouts with Abilene Christian, Arizona State, and Cincinnati. Their loss came on the road in which they scored just 16 points.

There are seven regular season games left, so where will this trend go? Will Hudson continue to be a non-factor, seemingly by the choice of the staff? Or will they work to get him involved in the offense?

If the argument in the early season was there was too much talent, production or experience on the field and the same players are available, why would anything change late in the season?

It will be a key storyline to pay attention to, especially if he continues to be a non-factor for a team that surely can find some sort of way to carve out a role for such a talented player.