The 50 most important college players in Texas in 2016 — No. 46: Texas Tech's Breiden Fehoko

[caption id="attachment_23044" align="alignnone" width="800"] Photo by Ashley Wirz[/caption] The importance of a player is not always defined by their skill. The most important player on a team is not always the best player on a team. This list is designed to breakdown the 50 most important players in Texas college football for the 2016 season. It is not a ranking of the 50 best college football players in the state. Importance can be defined by position, need, skill or leadership. We’ll count down the list through the summer, all the way to No. 1.Previously — 47: Houston DT B.J. Singleton // 48: Texas A&M DT Daylon Mack // 49: TCU S Denzel Johnson  // 50: Baylor S Chance WazNo. 46: Texas Tech defensive tackle Breiden FehokoThe History Texas Tech struggled in the trenches on defense way before Kliff Kingsbury took over. Stopping the run and creating inside pressure on a quarterback is something the Red Raiders need to improve. That’s why signing big-man Breiden Fehoko in the 2015 class was a gigantic step in the right direction. The 6-foot-3, 287-pound native Hawaiian was a four-star talent at Rivals.com coming out of high school. Scout.com rated him a five-star player. He was a member of the Rivals150 and the ESPN300, competing at The Opening Camp in Oregon as well as being named an Under Armour High School All-American. As a prep senior in Hawaii, Fehoko recorded 74 tackles, 16 sacks and six forced fumbles. Fehoko quickly earned a starting spot as a true freshman. He started all 13 games for the Red Raiders at defensive tackle, eventually being named an honorable mention all-Big 12 selection by the coaches. He was used mostly as a run-stuffer, registering 19 tackles, a sack and an interception. He remains the starter at defensive tackle entering the 2016 season. The Skillset Fehoko is an athletic defensive tackle with the ability to play the one- or three-technique. He made a living as a prep athlete getting into the backfield and being disruptive, against the pass and run. He racked up over 25 tackles for loss as a senior, and produced 16 sacks. He wasn’t asked to be that disruptive force for Texas Tech as a true freshman. It speaks to his skillset that he could walk into a Big 12 program and immediately start as a true freshman, but he’ll need to be more disruptive in the backfield to help this defense. He simply can’t be asked to purely occupy blocks for linebackers or his skills are being underutilized. His production picked up as the season wore on. Another year to grow and mature on and off the field will only make him a better player. The Impact Opponents averaged 43.6 per game and 6.2 yards per rush against Texas Tech in 2015. It is impossible to consistently win football games if your offense needs, on average, over six touchdowns to outscore an opponent. Fehoko isn’t the only player who needs to step up, but the highly-touted recruit is the best the Red Raiders have in the middle. Fehoko needs a big anchored defensive tackle next to him to fill the one-gap and occupy blockers so he can attack the three-gap and create negative plays, something the Texas Tech defensive line sorely needs to produce. Fehoko is an all-conference talent.

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