Three years ago, Will Hammond put up a jaw-dropping stat line that drew even the attention of Patrick Mahomes.

As a senior at Hutto (Texas) High School, Hammond — now the presumptive starting quarterback at Texas Tech following the Brendan Sorsby fallout — accounted for 807 offensive yards and 10 touchdowns in an 82-80 loss to nearby power Liberty Hill.

Go crazy then 🤣🤣 @Will_Hammond13 https://t.co/UtiF0gWFKZ

— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) September 2, 2023

Now that Sorsby has relinquished his fight for eligibility and intends to enter the NFL Supplemental Draft, Texas Tech is without its prized transfer quarterback for the 2026 season. So where do the Red Raiders go from here at the game’s most important position?

They’ll turn to Hammond, the athletic, accurate, competitive fireball who has been viewed as the program’s future since he stepped on campus in 2024. For those who haven’t seen him play, or are just peering in on Texas Tech football amid the Sorsby drama, what do the Red Raiders have in Hammond?

“They have a competitor,” Will Compton, Hammond’s high school coach, said. “We saw a glimpse of it last year, but just to see how he progresses inside of the offense, hopefully (he) makes some Texas Tech people really happy.”

Here are a few things to know about Hammond, Tech’s quarterback situation post-Sorsby, and another name to keep in mind as the 2026 season approaches.

Hammond is recovering from a torn ACL

Since Hammond arrived in Lubbock, those inside the program viewed him as the heir apparent to Behren Morton, the multiyear starter and seventh-round NFL Draft pick who led Tech to the College Football Playoff last year.

Hammond’s turn as QB1 seemed imminent, especially after he dazzled in relief of an injured Morton in a Week 4 road win at Utah last season.

Hammond started two games later in October in place of Morton, but tore the ACL in his right knee in the second start, a 42-0 win over Oklahoma State. The lengthy recovery timetable suddenly put Texas Tech in the market for a transfer quarterback, and the program landed Sorsby from Cincinnati.

But Hammond’s recovery appears to be going well. In the spring, Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire told reporters in Lubbock that he estimated Hammond would be ready by Week 3, when the Red Raiders host Houston in their Big 12 opener.

While in Houston last week for a speaking engagement, McGuire provided an updated timeline that sounded more optimistic.

“I wish I would have phrased my answer differently during the spring, because it was more football-ready versus being released to start practicing and everything,” McGuire said.

McGuire said Hammond had been cleared to throw before spring break and was recently cleared to participate in the team’s 7-on-7 summer workouts this month, which players hold three times a week. “He looks great,” McGuire said. “I asked him (after the first week of workouts), and he said, ‘I feel electric, coach.’”

A team source recently told The Athletic that in May, Hammond hit 20.5 miles per hour on the GPS while running full speed in a straight line, and he was throwing without limitations. “I’m pretty hopeful that he’ll be back for Week 1,” said the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal team matters.

McGuire said last week that Hammond’s estimated date to play with no restrictions is Aug. 21, which would mark nine full months of recovery.

“He feels great,” McGuire said. “He’s bouncing around, and I feel really great about Will.”

What Hammond has shown so far

Hammond, who played just four games in 2024 as a redshirt, made eight appearances in 2025, mostly as Morton’s backup. He threw for 680 yards and seven touchdowns against three picks. The Utah performance last September turned heads when he went 13-of-16 passing for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the second half of the Red Raiders’ 34-10 win.

“If he plays 80 percent of what he played in that game, we’ll win the Big 12,” the team source said. “He made clutch throws, threw a great deep ball, ran the football, moved well in the pocket, made off-platform throws. He was on fire.”

Hammond’s first start of the 2025 season came two weeks later against Arizona State. The results were less promising. Hammond finished 22-of-37 passing for 167 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, with 47 rushing yards and another score in a 26-22 road loss to the Sun Devils. Hammond did show resilience, rushing for a late fourth-quarter touchdown, then throwing one to give the Red Raiders a 22-19 lead with 2:00 left. But Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt engineered a game-winning touchdown drive to score with 34 seconds left, sending Tech home with its only Big 12 loss of the season.

Hammond has shown plenty of positive flashes, though, and the program felt good enough about his potential to sign him to a two-year deal before the 2025 season, a proactive move to fend off teams that might try to poach him.

Can the Red Raiders win the Big 12 with him?

“I think so,” said T.J. Randall, a former Power 4 scouting director who evaluated Hammond during his recruitment. “I think with the talent around him, for sure. We haven’t seen Will Hammond in a full-time starting role, but I think we’ve seen enough across his first two seasons to say, ‘OK, this is a guy who clears the baseline threshold of we can win with this guy.’

“The next step to clear is, ‘We win because of him.’ There are flashes there to suggest he can become that player. But getting over that hump requires you to actually do it.”

Randall, who worked in the scouting departments at Auburn, Houston and Liberty, said Hammond’s athleticism stands out the most.

“Will can create offense with his legs, and there aren’t a lot of throws that are off-limits to him,” said Randall, now a national scouting analyst for 247Sports. “He’s got a bigger arm than his listed size (6 feet 2, 210 pounds). He has the right blend of being able to make all the throws, can extend plays, and be involved in QB run game.”

This is always gonna be a Will Hammond fan account pic.twitter.com/DXEA4mSBIx

— T.J. Randall (@TJ_Randall12) December 28, 2024

Those are all traits Hammond has shown dating back to his days at Hutto, where he accounted for more than 11,000 combined career passing and rushing yards. As a senior, he threw for 3,901 yards and 35 touchdowns and rushed for 1,077 yards.

“He’s ultracompetitive, and he is far more athletic than what he may get credit for at times,” Compton said. “Just his ability to run — that was big for us.”

What happens if Hammond isn’t ready for Week 1?

This is where Texas Tech’s schedule offers some wiggle room.

Tech’s first two opponents are an FCS team (Abilene Christian) and a Group of 6 team (Oregon State). ACU is coming off an FCS Playoff appearance and famously took the Raiders to the brink in the 2024 season opener (before losing, 52-51, in overtime), but Tech will be a heavy favorite. Oregon State went 2-10 last season and is entering a new regime under coach JaMarcus Shephard, the former Alabama and Washington receivers coach.

If Hammond isn’t ready, Texas Tech will likely turn to Kirk Francis, a first-year transfer from Tulsa. Francis has experience, with 12 career starts in 18 games in three seasons at Tulsa. He entered last season as the starter, but left the Golden Hurricane’s Week 2 loss to New Mexico State with a concussion. He returned in October to start a 45-7 loss to Memphis, but didn’t play the remainder of the season, as Baylor Hayes finished the season as the starter.

Francis had an up-and-down career at Tulsa, throwing for 3,045 yards, 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his 18 appearances. But Texas Tech was encouraged by what he showed in spring football. He’s a true pocket passer and was efficient, completing 65 percent of his passes during Tech’s practices.

“He can rip the football; it gets where it needs to go at a high level,” the team source said. “His biggest thing is trying to take a little off the football and throwing a more catchable pass.”

Once healthy, this is Hammond’s team

This is the chance Hammond has been waiting for since his Hutto days. Hammond, who ranked No. 226 nationally in the 2024 cycle in the 247Sports Composite, committed to Texas Tech in December 2022 and never wavered, despite fielding offers from Oregon, Penn State, Auburn, Texas A&M and Tennessee, among others.

Compton has no doubts that Hammond will be able to handle the pressure of being QB1 for a CFP hopeful.

“What Will brings to the table analytically is just off the charts. He sees things that other people don’t,” Compton said. “He was a fun one to coach, just because his mindset was at a different level as far as the way he broke down the way he saw things.”

With the Sorsby drama officially put to rest, don’t be surprised if the Red Raiders rally around Hammond, who has long had support in the Texas Tech locker room.

“Going to Tech, (he’s) extremely excited to be there. He’s a Red Raider for life through and through,” Compton said. “The best human I’ve probably met in my life.”