When the Texas Tech football coaches moved Amir Washington from defensive tackle to defensive edge at the end of last season, Washington could have told them how much he appreciated the position change.
Instead, he showed them.
As a true freshman who hadn't done much thus far, Washington wreaked havoc in Tech's 34-14 victory over California in the Independence Bowl. He was credited with four tackles for loss, including two sacks and a forced fumble in a somewhat off-the-wall performance.
“It felt great,” Washington said Tuesday. “Because I was able to prove to them that I can go out there and play and do really well.”
Washington is a 6-foot-2, 265-pound redshirt freshman from Class 4A Little Cypress Morrisville in Southeast Texas. He had appeared in only one other game before the Independence Bowl, but several circumstances came together for him to play in that game. Starting field-side end Myles Cole missed the bowl game, and top backup Dylan Spencer was out with a shoulder injury.
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This made Charles Esters the starter and moved Washington from No. 4 to No. 2 on the depth chart.
He seized the opportunity and turned Cal's tackle into a wicket.
“I loved it,” Esters said. “He was able to step up and play as a freshman. This was his first game as an outside linebacker, so he really stepped up and showed he could play in our room. Everybody loved it, all the defensive players.”
The coaches moved Washington to the edge a few days before the final regular season game. He has been training all season to play defensive tackle. However, reaching his goal weight of 280 pounds proved futile.
He gave the Red Raiders a lot to think about in his debut on the edge, so he doesn't need to do that now.
“That was pretty big,” he said, “because I wasn't a DT player, so I pretty much knew what I was doing as soon as I went out because I was on the edge all my high school career. Because I was playing.”
When asked what his coach saw in him that made him decide to make the switch, Washington said, “I think it was probably my speed and agility and my end skills, because every time they lined me up outside, I was killing it.'' ” he said.
Still, that was just one game, against a team that was 6-6 at the time.
“Maybe he was hungry,” position coach CJ Ah You said. “That said, it's just the beginning. What he did last year was last year. This is a brand new year, so we'll see how things go.”
Washington agrees that work is needed. Washington said all the plays he made against Cal, saying the sack was a stunt and that “all the pass rush moves weren't that good.”
“My goal is to make sure I improve what I do and really impact the team and not just sit around and do nothing,” he said.
“He's making progress,” Ah Yu said. “This time in the spring was very beneficial for him because he's still learning the position.”
Now, Washington has set a high bar for himself and his stat column is starting over from scratch.
Needless to say, the Red Raiders are loaded with players on the defensive edge, many of whom have shown promising signs as underclassmen, even if they haven't contributed much to start their careers. Among them are Joseph Adair, Isaac Smith, Esters, Harvey Dyson, Spencer, and Washington. Smith and Adire have been sidelined this spring, with Smith recovering from knee surgery and Adire recovering from a season-ending injury.
“Harvey and Charles Esters have had a very strong spring practice,” Ah Yu said. “Amie is doing good things, so is Dylan, the young players are in a learning process.”
