Who leads in battle for Texas Tech football No. 2 QB?
Will Hammond will miss the first few weeks of Texas Tech football's 2026 season. Joey McGuire weighs in on Kirk Francis-Lloyd Jones III's competition.
In a perfect world, Brendan Sorsby would start and finish every Texas Tech football game next season — or play at least until the outcome is in hand. Then again, Texas Tech has had bad luck with quarterbacks' health for the past decade. In 2024, Behren Morton became the first Tech QB to start every regular-season game since Patrick Mahomes in 2016 and the first to not miss a start because of injury since Nic Shimonek in 2017.
And Morton underwent shoulder surgery in December 2024, sidelining him for the Liberty Bowl. More: Texas Tech football getting new-look Mack Leftwich in spring practice More: Is more than Texas Tech football in Malcolm Simmons' future? It's already established that Tech will start the 2026 season with a quarterback sidelined.
Tech coach Joey McGuire said last week that, in a best-case scenario, Will Hammond will return in week three from the season-ending knee injury he suffered in October. Hammond, who has a good chance to be the Red Raiders ' regular starter at some point in his career, will slot in at No. 2 when he's back.
So one question to answer during spring practice and preseason workouts is whether Tulsa transfer Kirk Francis or redshirt freshman Lloyd Jones III will be Sorsby's backup for the first month. During a Red Raider Club event last week in Amarillo, McGuire indicated Francis is starting out ahead based on his experience. "Kirk's played," McGuire said, "so he's processing stuff at a little bit different level just because he's played college football.