Devon Achane, 84 (87.5)

Zach Calzada, 82.3 (72.5)

Bryce Foster, 80.6 (65.9)

Isaiah Spiller, 80.2 (83.8)

Jalen Wydermyer, 78.9 (57.6)

Layden Robinson, 71.1 (79.5)

Amari Daniels, 70.4 (79.2)

Reuben Faatheree, 69.4 (67.5)

Caleb Chapman, 65.2 (63.1)

Jalen Preston, 65 (58.3)

Ainias Smith, 64.8 (68.4)

Kenyon Green, 63.7 (67.9)

Yulkeith Brown, 63.6 (62.5)

Matthew Wykoff, 63 (65.9)

Blake Trainor, 62.9 (55.2)

Jahmir Johnson, 61.7 (61.7)

Chase Lane, 58.2 (60.8)

Devin Price, 57.8 (65.5)

Demond Demas, 57.8 (53.8)

Kenyon Jackson, 56.9 (56.8)

Blake Bost, 55.3 (55.3)

Baylor Cupp, 52 (51.7)

Trey Zuhn, 44.8 (52)

Derick Hunter, 43.8 (46)

Aki Ogunbiyi, 38.4 (62.8)

Tyree Johnson, 89.8 (72)

McKinnley Jackson, 82.9 (61.6)

Antonio Johnson, 82.2 (90)

Micheal Clemons, 79.6 (80.6)

Tyreek Chappell, 76.2 (72.1)

Edgerrin Cooper, 75.4 (52.8)

Aaron Hansford, 73.1 (72.4)

DeMarvin Leal, 72.7 (68.8)

Jaylon Jones, 70.4 (55.9)

Jayden Peevy, 67.8 (83)

Demani Richardson, 67.7 (70.1)

Jardin Gilbert, 63.9 (58)

Isaiah Riakes, 62.1 (63.2)

Antonio Doyle, 59 (62.6)

Erick Young, 57.3 (61.1)

Deuce Harmon, 57.1 (67.5)

Leon O’Neal, 56.2 (81.2)

Fadil Diggs, 54.9 (61.4)

Adarious Jones, 53.9 (58.6)

Alex Zettler, 51.7 (54)

Shemar Trener, 48.6 (55.2)

Andre White, 45 (39)

Tarian Lee, 42.5 (55.1)

There's still work to be done here, and the passing numbers are pedestrian at best. But the Aggies are now doing what we thought they were capable of: running the football, beating up on opponents and using a big offensive front to their advantage.

It's not a coincidence that Texas A&M's offensive rebirth has come at the same time their true freshman center started playing really good football. The past two games, especially, Foster has dominated. And, as his comfort level has increased, he's been doing more.

Several times during the South Carolina game, Foster served as the lead blocker on a counter play. In other words, he snapped the ball, then pulled and led the back through the hole. In one case, he led Devon Achane on a 7-yard run where all he did was go through the hole ahead of Achane. Nobody wanted a piece of him.

He was also the lead blocker on the brilliantly-designed tight end screen that Jalen Wydermyer scored on. Once again, he didn't really have to do much; just the presence of a 330-pound center running full speed was enough for South Carolina's defenders to stay out of the way.

After shutting down Alabama's Will Anderson, right tackle Reuben Fatheree punched his ticket as a freshman All-American. Foster's probably already joined him in that capacity, but if he keeps playing like he is, there won't be any doubt.

DeMarvin Leal: Welp, finish strong and go get paid.

Isaiah Spiller: Can I have a loan in a few months?

Kenyon Green: You're a guard. You're the best guard in the country. Finish strong and let's re-visit this.

...You are listening to me, right? Kenyon?

Jalen Wydermyer: You've had a great couple of weeks, but we're eight games in and half of those have not been impressive. If you want to be a first rounder, you have to dominate the final third of the season.

Ainias Smith: Buddy, you're undervalued. You're not going to get the love you deserve. If you come back and are the centerpiece of the offense with Achane, it will work out for you financially in the long term. You shouldn't have to do that, but this is one of the injustices of the draft.

Right now, A&M is ranked 13th in the nation in the Rivals recruiting rankings with 14 commits. Most of the teams they're fighting with for commits have a whole lot more already, making their decisions a lot tougher. Here's a look at a few of them:

Georgia: 21 commits

Alabama: 17

Texas: 22

Oklahoma: 16

Ohio State: 16

LSU also has 14, but they're in a bit of a different category due to the coaching change. It'll be tough to figure out what they're going to do for a while.

In any event, most of A&M's primary recruiting foes have less wiggle room than the Aggies do. Right now, their primary competitors are really Georgia, Alabama and Texas, and only the Tide has a lot of room to maneuver. Here's some of the names A&M's still in on, with other leaders in parenthesis:

5-star S Jacoby Mathews (LSU, Texas)

4-star DE/LB Enai White (Georgia, Ohio State)

4-star DE Shemar Stewart (Georgia, Miami)

5-star DT Walter Nolen (Georgia, Tennessee)

5-star WR Evan Stewart (Texas, Alabama)

3-star OL Mark Nabou (Michigan, Texas)

4-star LB Harold Perkins (Texas, LSU)

4-star DE Anthony Lucas (Notre Dame)

4-star WR Chris Marshall (Alabama, USC)

5-star OL Kam Dewberry (Oklahoma, Ohio State)

4-star DE Omair Abor (Ohio State, Alabama)

There are other players the Aggies are in on, and they won't get all of these guys -- but this gives you an indication of how strongly they could close down the stretch. Some of their primary competitors just don't have room to take some of these high-caliber players (Georgia isn't shedding any tears, trust me), which helps A&M that much more.

Jimbo Fisher's programs have tended to close very strongly, picking up a lot of commits near signing day. This year won't be any different, except the caliber of players the Aggies get could be exceptional.

At the start of the year, there was a belief that Edgerrin Cooper would be the third linebacker behind Aaron Hansford and Andre White -- and there was even an idea he'd start -- because of his superior speed. He played a lot early, but his inexperience -- and maybe over-exuberance -- got him in trouble as he ran himself out of plays or missed tackles. Against Mississippi State, he had only one assist and looked lost.

But, like so many of his teammates, Cooper has turned it around in a big way since. He had 5 tackles against Alabama, 8 against Missouri and 5 more against South Carolina. He's had more tackles - 18 - in his last three games than his first five (13). Against the Gamecocks, he was even split out in pass coverage against running backs and handled things well.

One thing the defense has needed are explosive linebackers, guys who can make a difference with their speed. They have several capable players now, but Cooper could end up being special because of the speed he possesses.

It would be a mistake not to overlook the play of A&M's veteran linebacker, Aaron Hansford, over the past few weeks. He was struggling even more than Cooper with misreads, being out of position and missing tackles, but he has come on like a house on fire.

He has 32 tackles in the past four games and now leads the team in tackles and is third in tackles for loss (55 and 7, respectively). He only had 3 tackles in the South Carolina game, largely because the backs never got to the second level.

Last year, Buddy Johnson was the veteran of the linebacker unit and he played the best football of his career in the final third of the 2020 season. If A&M is going to run the table, Hansford will have to do the same.

Auburn

Strength: Their defense. It's 40th overall, including 32nd against the run. They're fourth in the nation in tackles for loss.

Weakness: Scoring on offense. Since scoring 122 points in their first two games, they've managed 20 against Penn State, 34 against Georgia State, 24 against LSU and 10 against Georgia before breaking out for 38 against a beaten up Arkansas team. SEC defenses have slowed them considerably.

Ole Miss

Strength: The explosive offense, clearly. Matt Corall is a Heisman candidate and they're averaging 42 points a game. But their running game is 3rd in the nation and they have 3 excellent backs. They're not a pass first or pass only team.

Weakness: Is as glaring as their offense is outstanding. They are 100th in total defense, including 98th against the run. That's not a good combination when you have Spiller and Achane coming at you.

LSU

Strength: They still have a lot of individual talent and they're starting to run the ball well.

Weakness: They're undermanned due to injuries and poorly coached. They're 80th in total offense and 91st in total defense.

During Texas' media availability today, super senior DB Josh Thompson was asked how tough it was to play at Baylor. He said it was the third-toughest environment in the Big 12, with Iowa State being the toughest.

Josh won't be around to see the SEC, but some of his teammates will be and they have no concept of what kind of hell awaits them.

McLane Stadium's capacity is 45,140 people. Jack Trice Stadium seats 61,500. Those are two of the three loudest places Texas has played?

Dear Lord.

If they think that's loud, wait until they get a feel of Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, Athens and the new Kyle Field. They may not be SEC ready.