With the Texas Tech football team set to close preseason practice this week, Joey McGuire has spent the last three weeks talking about nearly every Red Raider on the roster.

Even so, there are still players the head coach feels haven't gotten nearly enough credit for what they've done so far in camp.

McGuire had two players in particular he wanted to highlight, which covered all three phases of a football game. For offense and special teams, McGuire highlighted senior receiver/return man Drae McCray.

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"On offense, the dude just is a machine," McGuire said. "Loves football, catches the ball in traffic. Good things happen whenever it's in his hand."

McGuire noted that McCray shouldn't be a surprise pick of his. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior led the Big 12 and was ninth nationally in kick return average last season, after all. He's touted McCray's talents throughout camp, even wanting the veteran to handle both punt and kick returns this season.

To that end, McGuire said Tuesday he's not sure if McCray will handle punts this year, noting he'd like to give more touches to fellow receivers Josh Kelly, Micah Hudson or Jordan Brown. The possibility still remains, but the coach said Kelly is the favorite for that spot right now.

On the defensive side, McGuire and outside linebackers coach C.J. Ah You might as well have been sharing the same brain. While visiting with the media last week, Ah You said that Harvey Dyson III has been the most consistent member of the unit.

"Him, like a lot of other guys, are going through their third year," Ah You said, "so they're playing a lot faster. He's playing really fast. He's playing with a lot of confidence right now. He's right now producing the most as a pass rusher, has multiple tools. He's being very disruptive. ..."

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Ah You said he's looking for about six or seven players to fill the rotation at the EDGE position. Dyson said he's played more boundary end but feels confident he can play the field end as well.

"He's got an edge to him right now," McGuire said of Dyson. "It's year three. Anytime that you're thinking of anything in the o-line or d-line, year three, the light better come on. You should expect guys to play year three whenever they're in the trenches.

"It's year three and, man, really excited for him."

Dyson, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound redshirt sophomore, appeared in eight games last season, joining the defensive rotation during conference play. He saw his most action of the season in the Independence Bowl win over Cal, where he played 22 snaps.

Shortly after Ah You called Dyson the most consistent member of his room, Dyson said that simply means he needs to continue that trend.

"Just being consistent even more," Dyson said. "That's something I take pride in. I have to be consistent every day to be where I want to be. I can't just come in, have one good practice and fall off the next few practices. I have to do the whole fall camp consistently and that's going to carry over to the season for me hopefully."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Who are Texas Tech football's hidden gems? Joey McGuire has the answer