The Aggies had a lot of things go wrong last year, but one of the biggest was quarterback play. Zach Calzada deserves credit for being tough and having a fantastic game against Alabama, but otherwise – well, he wasn’t good. He completed less than 57% of his passes, threw for less than 200 yards a game on average and had a touchdown to interception rate of less than 2:1. The most yards an A&M quarterback threw for in a game was 292 – and that was Haynes King in his only start.

Looking back at things, it’s now clear Jimbo Fisher had a lot more faith in King, because what was a pretty open offense in week 1 got a lot more conservative after that. King, of course, is back, but Max Johnson has entered the mix as well. With a worse line and fewer weapons, Johnson threw for more than 300 yards 6 times and had a TD:INT ratio of better than 4:1.

It all starts at quarterback and the Aggies have two (maybe three, with Conner Weigman) who should be better than what they went to work with for most of last year. But it’s got to be a whole lot better for them to win it all.

The Aggies have two freshman All-Americans (Bryce Foster and Deuce Fatheree) and an All-SEC selection (Layden Robinson) anchoring the offensive line. They can feel good about a fourth position, with Aki Ogunbiyi and Blake Trainor likely fighting it out for the left guard job. That leaves one tackle spot, which Trey Zuhn will occupy.

But Zuhn has only played in four games, starting none. Still, make no mistake: he’s the guy, whether it’s on the left side or right. A&M clearly has confidence in him, because they didn’t go all out for the likes of Kelvin Banks when they could have and they haven’t looked in the portal. All the same, he’s going to be under a lot of pressure to perform as a redshirt freshman.

The only way the Aggies contend for a national title this year is if some of their very talented true freshmen are ready to contribute right off the bat – especially on defense. Walter Nolen, Shemar Stewart, Gabe Dindy, Anthony Lucas, Bryce Anderson, Jacoby Mathews and Denver Harris (among others) could see serious playing time this fall. Some guys, like DeMarvin Leal and Tyreek Chappell, proved they were up to the task of playing right away. But it’s still a lot to ask.

In large part due to the problems mentioned in point 1, no A&M receiver can really say they had a good 2021. Ainias Smith led the team in yards, but saw his numbers drop across the board. Demond Demas had some big plays, but didn’t get a lot of opportunities and then got hurt. Moose Muhammad and Jalen Preston came on strong late in the year, so there’s definitely hope for 2022. That hope increases significantly with the additions of Evan Stewart, Chris Marshall and Noah Thomas, but improvement can be contingent on the freshmen. Smith needs to step up and Demas and Caleb Chapman need to prove they’re more than threats on paper. Then adding back in Moose and Preston (and maybe Chase Lane?) and you should have something good – and depth that allows you to keep your wideouts fresh.

Do you know who Texas A&M’s top returning sack man is? If you do, you know way too much about college football, because it’s Demani Richardson, who had 2 last year. Shemar Turner, who played in just 8 games, is the top returning defensive lineman with 1.5. In other words, A&M needs to figure out a pass rush, because 2021’s went out the window with Leal, Tyree Johnson and Micheal Clemons. Those three guys accounted for 24 of A&M’s 39 sacks on the season.

The Aggies will have a ton of options to try out, including Turner, but they’re going to need some very inexperienced players (Tunmise Adeleye, Jahzion Harris, Fadil Diggs and the freshmen) to get after the passer. Making Donell Harris a standup edge pass rusher at linebacker could help, but they’ve got to find ways to apply pressure from the front line as well. Who’s going to fill that role is still a question.

Seth Small was consistent during his time at A&M. He didn’t get fazed (Alabama, anyone?) and didn’t miss much (in 2021, at all) from 40 yards and in. From 40 to 50, he was still decent money. So if you got inside the 30, there was a very good chance you were getting points. Caden Davis has a stronger leg than Small, but is an unknown in game situations. He’s tried one field goal attempt in a regular game, and it was blocked. For the Aggies to go the distance, Davis is going to have to be as clutch as Small was. No mean feat, that.

This team is getting loaded, and fast, but it’s not to the point where it’s invulnerable to injury. A loss of either Zuhn or Fatheree could be devastating to any title hopes and could scuttle the season entirely. Devon Achane seems to have some solid support, but we don’t know for sure. An injury to Andre White or Edgerrin Cooper could really screw up the middle of the defense. So the Aggies need to stay healthy, and if Karma is fair, they’re owned a Mulligan after 2021.

Achane is RB1, but what about after him? Amari Daniels sure looked like he was a player last season, so he should definitely get a look. LJ Johnson looked a little heavy (to me), and may need to slim down a bit. But he still brings serious pop and speed in the open field. And newcomer Le’Veon Moss, like Johnson, can bring the pain. Two of the three of them have to be ready to roll this year so Achane doesn’t wear down and the offense can operate smoothly.

The offense will only run smoothly if it’s a lot less conservative in 2021. Jimbo said he wanted to “sling it” at the start of the season; then King got hurt and the offense became even more conservative than in 2020. Part (a lot) of that was working with Calzada’s abilities; some was Jimbo’s old habits coming to the forefront. The big complaint about Jimbo at FSU was his becoming predictable with his playcalls. That was certainly true in 2021. Now we have to find out how much of that was because he was working with his backup quarterback. He’s said he has the talent now to be explosive, so we’ll see. But the offense definitely has to be more open than it was last year to succeed.

The question right now is, who are the backup linebackers? We know the starters. But will Ish, Martrell and Donell Harris push aside Tarian Lee and Chris Russell? Will the Aggies add someone else from the transfer portal, or move another player there? In any case, someone had better step up, because the linebackers group succeeded the past two years because they had a third linebacker (White in 2020, Cooper in 2021) who could come in and take a lot of snaps with no dropoff. That player is unknown right now.