A.J. Holmes is the known commodity in the Texas Tech football team's defensive tackle room.
Even as he was considered a backup his first year in Lubbock, Holmes got to shine after the season-ending injury to Skyler Gill-Howard. Hardly the most high-profile name for Texas Tech's defense, being overshadowed by the likes of David Bailey and Jacob Rodriguez, Holmes established himself as a force, earning All-American honors.
Holmes now heads into the 2026 season as the leader of the clubhouse, one new defensive line coach Imarjaye Albury can look to in any situation. Who joins Holmes in the middle is one of the few questions defensive coordinator Shiel Wood has this season.
"We're a loaded group," Albury said. "I've got about six guys that have started
in games in college football, which is rare. I'm glad we have that."
Transfers Mateen Ibirogba (Wake Forest) and Julien Laventure (Akron) appear most likely to get the nod alongside Holmes. Each has missed a spell of fall camp, Ibirogba for unspecified reasons and Laventure for a cooking accident suffered two days before the first practice.
Laventure suffered burns on his hands while frying up some chicken when a fire caught on the stove. He quickly called Texas Tech's training staff, hopped on a scooter and headed for the football facility to get looked at. Albury joked that Laventure has been banned from cooking for himself after the incident.
"I sent him a little GIF, a little meme. I call it the drop and escape technique," Albury quipped. "So drop the food and then escape the grease. That was funny, but yeah, 100%. Shouldn't be frying chicken two days before camp. Let's start there."
Albury called Ibirogba "Mr. Consistent" for his approach each day and applauded Laventure for quickly getting back into the swing of things after missing the first few days of camp.
"When he hit the field, he's ready to go," Albury said of Laventure. "He hit his stride and hit his rhythm as if he's been practicing the whole time. That's just how he's wired and so, man, I'm enthused and impressed with all those guys."
Others battling for playing up at defensive tackle are Oregon State transfer Jojo Johnson, returnee Jayden Cofield and Washington transfer Bryce Butler.
While the other spot up front is still in flux a bit, Albury has leaned on Holmes to set the tone for the rest of the grou.
"We want to be a relentless group up front, we want to be a violent group up front. We want to be a smart group up front," Albury said. "Well, you got to exemplify that. You got to be the spearhead of that. He's been doing a great job of, hey, if this is what you want our group to look like, they got to see it in you all the time, not just sometimes. Every single play, down in and down out. He's been doing that 100%."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Which defensive tackles will join A.J. Holmes up front for Texas Tech football?
