The Texas Tech football staff moved Kasen Long from offensive line to defensive line in late March, and the move will be more than temporary.

Not only is Long staying at defensive end, Joey McGuire said a few weeks after spring practice, the Tech coach already has a past player comparison. Unsolicited, McGuire said the 6-foot-5, 260-pound freshman from Shallowater "reminds me so much" of former Tech defensive lineman Jackson Richards. McGuire coached Richards in an all-star game.

McGuire found out he wasn't the first to see the similarities when he shared his observation with offensive staffers Clay McGuire and Kenny Perry.

"I said, 'That's who Kasen Long is going to (be),' " McGuire said. "One of the two started laughing and said, 'We were just talking about that. We actually in the offensive staff room compared him to Jackson.'

"And so we're going to keep him at defensive end. Both ways, he's still a year away from playing, just from maturity and gaining weight."

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Richards, a top recruit from Southlake Carroll, was listed at 6-foot-3 and 248 pounds as a freshman in 2010 and grew to 6-4, 275. He came in as a defensive end, wound up at defensive tackle and started 28 games from 2011-14. McGuire envisions a similar path for Long, a three-time first-team all-district offensive lineman.

"I'm hoping that as he matures and grows, we can get him to 290, 295 pounds, which, he should trend that way," McGuire said. "Then we can move him from defensive end to defensive tackle, kind of a little bit like Jackson."

Asked about the tools that make him project Long as a defensive lineman, McGuire said, "His length. He's very tough. High motor. I think he feels a lot more comfortable."

Tech also has promising young offensive tackles in redshirt freshman Daniel Sill and true freshmen Jacob Ponton from Dripping Springs and Ellis Davis from Prosper, the latter two the No. 32 and No. 56 prospects in Texas on the 247Sports composite index.

"When you're looking at (Long) at (offensive tackle), in that class you have (Jacob) Ponton, who ... you talk about a kid having a great spring. And then you're bringing in Ellis Davis, and a year ahead of him, you've got Daniel Sill and Dalton Merryman.

"We felt like he could help us more on the defensive side if we could grow him, starting with field end, into a defensive tackle."

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This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football's Joey McGuire makes decision on Kasen Long future