A weekly look at a Texas Tech player who is either redshirting or not on the two-deep chart.

MYLES WADE

Position: Nose tackle

Height/weight: 6-2, 340

In high school/junior college: Coming out of Portland (Ore.) Central Catholic, Wade was ranked among the top 10 defensive tackle recruits in the nation in 2007. He signed with Oregon, but failed to meet freshman eligibility requirements. He wound up playing one season at Arizona Western College, where he was credited with 54 tackles and 31/2 sacks.

At the moment: In recent years, Tech defensive players such as Dwayne Slay and Brandon Sharpe started slowly after transferring from junior colleges but made big impacts in their senior seasons. With his pedigree, maybe Wade can do something similar with his last two years.

This week, defensive line coach Charlie Sadler said, “The common denominator with Dwayne Slay and with Brandon is they had really good talent and were somewhat limited in their play early just because of not knowing the system. Myles is a guy who has talent, and once he gets the system down, there’s no reason for him not to have a breakout year starting next year.”

Wade is being trained exclusively at nose tackle, where Colby Whitlock will be a returning senior starter next season. The tackles rotation will lose Richard Jones and Victor Hunter, who are seniors this year.

Wade came to Tech with no redshirt year available. Unable to crack the rotation, he’s played in only two games this season, getting credit for two tackles.

Wade still takes part in the team’s weekly Thursday scrimmage for young players. But his snaps are limited in those because coaches want him to be fresh in case he’s needed in a game on Saturday.

“Probably the thing he’s progressed the most on is his pass-rushing technique and abilities,” Sadler said. “He’s still working on the run fits, trying to improve on a daily basis on that. But there’s a marked improvement from the time he got here to now. A lot of that has to do with the fact he’s learned the calls and he’s not as hesitant as he was early.”

Compiled by Don Williams