The Texas Tech football team played a half dozen guys regularly at the defensive edge positions last year. But none was Isaac Smith.

For a while, Joey McGuire fooled himself into thinking the Red Raiders could get by without Smith.

"Whenever he got hurt last year," the Tech coach said this week, "I thought our depth could handle that kind of injury, but what we missed was his toughness."

Smith was sidelined the entire 2023 season after undergoing knee surgery. That was a bummer for all involved, given how Smith burst onto the scene down the stretch in 2022 with strong performances in victories at Iowa State, against Oklahoma and in the Texas Bowl against Mississippi.

Smith could get the year of eligibility restored at some point via medical hardship waiver. For now, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound junior from Wagoner, Oklahoma, is ready to make up for lost time. The Red Raiders started preseason practice Wednesday, about two months after Smith was cleared for all football activities.

More: What Joey McGuire is taking from Dan Campbell in preseason practice planning

Related: How bottom-rated recruit in Texas Tech football's 2021 class has emerged as potential steal

Related: Why 2024 is milepost season for Texas Tech football under Joey McGuire

He had to take a long-term perspective while the Red Raiders were going 7-6 last season.

"For me, I just kind of had to see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "Just kind of help my teammates where I can, whether it's on the field or off the field, just kind of help the younger guys. I think that's really kind of what helped me keep going throughout the season last year was just being able to still be involved with the team and help out where I could."

Smith tweaked a knee during preseason practice last year. A consultation with medical staff led to an MRI, and an interesting discovery: He'd had a damaged knee long before last August.

"I had an ACL tear, an MCL tear and a meniscus tear that I had been playing on for two years or so that I just didn't know about," he said. "I still don't know the exact day it happened or when it happened, but it showed on the MRI there was a preexisting injury, and we made the decision that right then was obviously the time I needed to fix it.

"So I was able to get it fixed and now I'm feeling good, ready to go."

More: How Texas Tech football players viewed their representation in EA Sports College Football 25

More: Showing up in style: Behren Morton dishes on hair, Texas Tech football QB room

More: How Texas Tech football captains thought outside the box with face-to-face roster review

Smith and the Red Raiders would like to see him stay injury free for an extended time. Before last fall, Smith suffered a torn hip labrum in the 2022 Texas Bowl, which led to surgery and his missing spring practice in 2023.

"I'm excited to get Isaac Smith back out there," defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said this week. "I know it killed him. It killed us, as many as we got hurt out there on the edges, not having him. But he's looking good so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing him full go."

As an illustration of his potential and how coaches regard him, McGuire lists Smith, even with all the down time, as the starter at field-side defensive edge, above junior Charles Esters and Independence Bowl sensation Amier Washington.

"He has had a great summer," McGuire said. "We've had about 18 to 20 guys that every Saturday go to an MMA/boxing class as a group. And one of the instructors was talking about different guys, like, 'This guy's really tough. This guy's really tough.' But he said, 'If you want to know who your alpha male, the dog in this group is, it's Isaac Smith.' "

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football: DE Isaac Smith returns after missing 2023 season