Can Texas Tech football's Hunter Zambrano finally catch a break?
Texas Tech football coaches project Hunter Zambrano to be a starting guard. That's if he can shake nearly two full seasons lost to injuries.
The Texas Tech football team signed Hunter Zambrano out of the NCAA transfer portal to be a key player on its offensive line , and by golly, it's going to happen — in 2026 instead of in 2025. That's assuming Zambrano stays healthy for an extended stretch. For the past two years, that's been a frustratingly elusive mission.
Zambrano played in only two games in 2024 for Illinois State before transferring to Texas Tech and playing in only three games last year, in each case being sidelined early by what amounted to season-ending injuries. More: Jett Carpenter hopes Texas Tech football stop preps him for the NFL More: Peyton Morgan, Malik Esquerra rising in Texas Tech football battle The good news: Tech coach Joey McGuire said this week he views the 6-foot-5, 305-pound sixth-year man as the starter at left guard, and Zambrano says he's ready. "I feel great," he said on Tuesday, April 7, after the Red Raiders ' ninth spring workout .
"Coming back from another injury, I'm used to it, so I know what it takes to get back from it. I'm just getting my legs under me, but I feel really good. I feel healthy, a hundred percent, ready to go.
" His being off the injured list isn't the only change for Zambrano. Exclusively an offensive tackle throughout college, he's now playing offensive guard for the first time since his senior year of high school in Florida. From last year's 12-2 Orange Bowl team, the Tech offensive line returns Sheridan Wilson, Howard Sampson and Jacob Ponton and lost Davion Carter and Will Jados.