Quinten Joyner details year on the sideline, return to action for Texas Tech football - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Joyner arrived in Lubbock last December as what looked like the centerpiece of a three-man running back rotation heading into 2024 fall camp. He was the higher-profile name compared to returners Cameron Dickey and J'Koby Williams, both of whom had played limited snaps behind Tahj Brooks, who broke rushing records for the program. Then a season-ending knee injury hit before the year even started, and Joyner never took a regular-season snap in a Texas Tech uniform.

Now, nearly a year later, he's working his way back into the mix. Head coach Joey McGuire and the staff spent the stretch after the injury reshaping the backfield without him, leaning on Dickey and Williams to carry the load. What that rotation looks like with a healthy Joyner added back in is the real question this fall camp.

For Tech fans, this is the kind of storyline that makes August practice reports worth reading. A player who was supposed to start, lost a full year to injury, and is now fighting to reclaim a spot he never actually got to hold.

Brooks graduated having rewritten the program's rushing record book, which means there are real carries available for whoever steps up.