10 Things for Tuesday

Devon Achane, 74.4 (season, 78.4)

Jahmir Johnson, 74.3 (61.4)

Kenyon Green, 73.9 (67.4)

Isaiah Spiller, 68.2 (74.4)

Layden Robinson, 65.1 (78.4)

Jalen Preston, 65 (61.9)

Zach Calzada, 63.2 (61)

Ainias Smith, 62.4 (63.1)

Jalen Wydermyer, 62.4 (52.9)

Reuben Fatheree, 57.9 (68.8)

Bryce Foster, 51.5 (53.5)

Demond Demas, 48.8 (54.2)

Tyreek Chappell, 78 (70.1)

Antonio Johnson, 72.3 (86.9)

Aaron Hansford, 70.6 (69.2)

Micheal Clemons, 70 (82.8)

Jayden Peevy, 68.4 (82)

Deuce Harmon, 67.7 (70.7)

Demani Richardson, 67.5 (69.4)

Leon O’Neal, 65.2 (78.5)

Erick Young, 64.9 (64.9)

DeMarvin Leal, 57.3 (75.2)

Adarious Jones, 54.9 (60.1)

Tyree Johnson, 54.9 (65.2)

Andre White, 53.1 (44)

McKinnley Jackson, 48 (60.2)

Jaylon Jones, 47.5 (64.4)

Outside of health and enough depth at quarterback, this team lacks explosiveness at a couple of positions. The first, of course, is wideout. Maybe Demond Demas and Caleb Chapman will take care of that at some point, but they haven’t yet. Then again, they may also be limited by the quarterback play.

The other is linebacker. Buddy Johnson didn’t strike an observer as “explosive”, but he knew exactly what to do and where to go. From mid-2019 on, he was outstanding in that respect, and his numbers showed it. Aaron Hansford has the speed to be explosive, but he seems like he’s feeling the pressure of being the leader of the linebackers and has been slow off the snap this season. And he’ll be gone next year. That leaves Edgerrin Cooper as really the only fast linebacker in the group, even though Ish and Martrell Harris could help (so could Harold Perkins).

I think the PFF scores show what we saw — and you know I don’t normally agree with their scores — this offensive line group is the best we’ve seen so far. It may be rough for Aki Ogunbiyi to lose his job due to injury, but Kenyon Green and Jahmir Johnson boosted each other significantly by playing next to each other. And Layden Robinson really is a war daddy. They’re going to build the next line around Bryce Foster and Deuce Fatheree, and neither has been overwhelmed. Foster’s struggling, but what do you expect? He was thrown into a tough situation with less than three weeks to go before the season began at an even tougher position.

We’re less than halfway through the season, but I do think at this point that it would behoove Kenyon Green to come back for another season. We’ve found out pretty clearly that he is, indeed, a guard. He's a powerful blocker who drives opponents. He's huge. But he may not be quick enough to be a tackle. And he's certainly most comfortable at left guard.

Jimbo Fisher said that guard “is where we wanted him”, and the emergence of Fatheree allows for that. An offensive line of Fatheree/Green/Foster/Robinson and maybe Trey Zuhn or a transfer looks, on paper, to be pretty solid.

The NCAA approved today, and will formally announce tomorrow, that recruiting class can expand to 32 this year to make up for players lost to transfers. I’ll have to do some digging to see precisely how this will affect A&M, but you can count on it doing so. But with recruiting the way that it is now, I think that most of the scholarships granted due to lost transfers will be…spent on transfers. Most freshmen will be already accounted for, even though you can count on teams hitting the gas with some guys they had figured were previously just outside of being worth a slot in their class.

We’ve watch the baseball and basketball teams basically reinvent themselves since the end of last season thanks to the transfer portal. Football won’t, for a number of reasons. First, you really can’t in football. Second, they don’t need a total revamp, they need some supplementary talent. Like I said Monday, I’d be looking for a quarterback, an offensive tackle (maybe a guard) and, depending on what happens with Brian George and Myles Jones, maybe a corner. And a linebacker. I always want linebackers.

What would a defense next year look like if DeMarvin Leal leaves along with the seniors, but George and Myles Jones come back? This is without the new arrivals, mind you, but it gives you a bit of an idea of how it could look. I’m also assuming Tyree Johnson comes back, because it would be a very good idea if he did.

DE: Tyree Johnson, Donell Harris

DT: McKinnley Jackson, Isaiah Raikes

DT: Shemar Turner, Adarious Jones

DE: Fadil Diggs, Elijah Jeudy

LB: Edgerrin Cooper, Tarian Lee

LB: Andre White, Antonio Doyle

(Note: Doyle has largely played defensive end this season. I could see him bumping Jeudy for that slot if they decide to keep him there and he adds 10 pounds.)

CB: Jaylon Jones, Tyreek Chappell

S: Demani Richardson, Brian Willams OR Erick Young

S: Brian Williams OR Erick Young, Jardin Gilbert

CB: Myles Jones, Brian George

Nickel: Antonio Johnson, Deuce Harmon

Things are pretty depressing around the program right now, but the Aggies aren’t the only ones struggling. The big story has to be Clemson, which is also out of the top 25 this week — and for the first time in seven years. They’re a mess, and have way too much talent to struggle in the ACC. OU is undefeated, but also has not been very impressive. Oregon has a loss, and outside of playing up against Ohio State, hasn’t impressed. Ohio State hasn’t impressed at all. Wisconsin has completely collapsed. Notre Dame isn’t good and has what could be the first of several losses on its ledger.

So yeah, you have every right to be bummed out, frustrated and angry. But you’re not the only ones who support a power program that are down in the dumps.

Let’s talk about Urban Meyer. This guy is a god among the media and some coaching circles, but when does it become painfully apparent that he is not a good guy and does not surround himself with good people? The guy loses a ballgame and goes out and parties with girls a third his age. That’s not only gross, that’s insulting to the other coaches and players who were in the Jacksonville facility watching game film, getting treatment and whatever else. How can this man be respected in the locker room?

Now, I bring that up to bring this up — knowing what you do about some other college football coaches, do you think they had the respect of their players when they decided to go off and party instead of put in the extra work? Unlikely.

If Urban gets fired in Jacksonville, he’ll probably get another look in the college ranks because he can recruit and he wins. But he really shouldn’t. Respect is a two-way street, and he hasn’t earned it and hasn’t given it. Same thing goes for some other coaches who have been around the collegiate ranks over the past decade-plus. And I most certainly do not mean Jimbo Fisher.