Here's the latest edition of 10 Things for Tuesday, sponsored by JFQ Lending!
This week, we'll take a quick look at A&M's 10 major opponents this fall. Sorry, Sam Houston and UMass, but you gotta draw the line somewhere. Let's kick it off with enemy #1, Alabama.
Top offensive player: QB Bryce Young
Top returning rusher: Trey Sanders, 314 yards
Top returning passer: Young…come on, he won the Heisman.
Top returning receiver: TE Cameron Latu, 26 catches, 410 yards, 8 TD
The Tide had needs on the offensive line, at running back and at receiver. So what did they do? Arguably went out and got arguably the top players available at each need position. They’re going to need WRs Jermaine Burton (Georgia) and Tyler Harrell (Louisville), RB Jahmyr Gibbs (Georgia Tech) and LT Tyler Steen (Vandy) to mesh quickly. Otherwise, the talent’s there. Again.
Top defensive player: DE Will Anderson
Top returning tackler: LB Henry To’oto’o, 111
Top returning sacker: Anderson, 17.5
Top returning interceptor: S Jordan Battle, 3
Anderson’s back. Need we say more? 17.5 sacks and 31 tackles for loss last year is absolutely nuts (and A&M shut him down). They return the vast majority of their defense, so it should be extremely nasty. The only question is whether vaunted transfer CB Eli Ricks (LSU) starts. But they’re potent and there’s only two teams that can stand in their way: Georgia and A&M.
#2, Appalachian State (this is in alphabetical order, if you hadn't guessed)
Top offensive player: QB Chase Brice
Top returning rusher: Nate Noel, 199 carries, 1,126 yards, 4 TD
Top returning passer: Brice, 242-390 (62.1%), 3,327 yards, 27 TD, 11 INT
Top returning receiver: Christian Wells, 12 catches, 243 yards, 2 TD
Returning Brice and Noel makes the offense dangerous right off the bat, but all of their top receivers from last year are gone. Getting them early in the year may really hurt their passing game against the Aggies.
Top defensive player: LB Nick Hampton
Top returning tackler: LB Trey Cobb, 75
Top returning sacker: Hampton, 11
Top returning interceptor: CB Steven Jones, 5
Getting Hampton, Cobb and Jones back automatically is a boost, but App State lost a lot of experience in on defense this offseason. They’ll have a lot of new faces going up against what’s now a pretty experienced A&M offensive line.
#3, Arkansas
Top offensive player: QB KJ Jefferson
Top returning rusher: Jefferson, 664 yards
Top returning passer: Jefferson, 198-294 (67.3%), 2,676 yards, 21 TD, 4 INT
Top returning receiver: Warren Thompson, 19 catches, 304 yards, 2 TD
The Hogs return a lot of weapons across the board and have four starters on the offensive line returning. But they’ve really got to find some receiver help, and transfer Jordan Hazelwood and freshman Isaiah Sategna may be looked to to fill the void.
Top defensive player: S Jalen Catalon
Top returning tackler: LB Bumper Pool, 125
Top returning sacker: Zach Williams, 2.5
Top returning interceptor: Catalon, 2
As experienced as Arkansas is on offense, they lack it on defense. Pool and Catalon come back, but the Razorbacks lost 7 of their top 10 tacklers, their best pass rush threat and all of their top defensive backs not named Catalon. Adding transfers Landon Jackson (DE, LSU) and Drew Sanders (LB, Alabama) should help, but the turnover on defense from last year is severe.
#4, Auburn
Top offensive player: RB Tank Bigsby
Top returning rusher: Bigsby, 223 carries, 1,099 yards, 10 TD
Top returning passer: TJ Finley, 70-128 (54.7%), 6 TD, 1 INT
Top returning receiver: WR Shedrick Jackson, 40 catches, 527 yards, 1 TD
Things don’t look good on the plains. Right now, it looks like Zach Calzada could be the starting QB, the wideouts are very average (or worse) and most of their O-line is being replaced. Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter are going to get teed off on…probably.
Top defensive player: DE Derick Hall
Top returning tackler: DE Colby Wooden, 61
Top returning sacker: Hall, 12.5
Top returning interceptor: Donovan Kaufman, 1
It doesn’t look much better on defense, with the secondary gutted and a lot of talent in the front 7 gone. But Hall and Wooden are pretty darned good.
#5, Florida
Top offensive player: WR Justin Shorter
Top returning rusher: QB Anthony Richardson, 51 carries, 401 yards, 3 TD
Top returning passer: Richardson, 38-64 (59.4%), 6 TD, 5 INT
Top returning receiver: Shorter, 41 catches 550 yards, 3 TD
The Gators will go as far as Richardson will take them, which means he’ll have to get a whole lot better. They got a big boost when RB Martrell Johnson followed Billy Napier over from Lafayette.
Top defensive player: LB Brenton Cox
Top returning tackler: SS Trey Dean, 88
Top returning sacker: Cox, 8
Top returning interceptor: CB Rashad Torrence, 3
Torrence, Cox and Dean are all really good, but there’s a lot of new faces in the two deep for Florida. And it’s not a lot of exciting freshmen, it’s guys who should have contributed already. Napier is going to make UF really good, but I don’t know if that’ll start this year.
#6, LSU
Top offensive player: WR Kayshon Boutte
Top returning rusher: Armoni Goodwin, 16 carries, 65 yards
Top returning passer: Garrett Nussmeier, 29-57 (50.9%), 329 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Top returning receiver: Boutte, 38 catches, 509 yards, 9 TD
With Max Johnson at A&M and Myles Brennan walking away this week, LSU will be led by a new quarterback - likely ASU transfer Jayden Daniels. There are a lot of faces on the offense that are new, including at running back and three of the offensive line spots. The line wasn’t good last year, and now it will be less experienced. Daniels wasn’t great at ASU (2,380 yards, 10 TD, 10 INT), but he should be able to figure out to chuck it to Boutte.
Top defensive player: DE BJ Ojulari
Top returning tackler: S Jay Ward, 69
Top returning sacker: Ojulari, 7
Top returning interceptor: Ward, 2
The LSU defensive line should be stout, with Ojulari, Maason Smith, Jaquelin Roy and Ali Gaye up front. After that, it’s a total crap shoot as the back end has been totally revamped. All the existing starters transferred out, and the new ones transferred in (largely from Arkansas). How quickly they come together may determine their success.
#7, Miami
Top offensive player: QB Tyler Van Dyke
Top returning rusher: Jaylan Knighton, 145 carries, 561 yards, 3 TD
Top returning passer: Van Dyke, 202-324, 2,931 yards, 25 TD, 6 INT
Top returning receiver: Keyshawn Smith, 33 catches, 405 yards, 3 TD
Miami is starting to rebuild its offense into a force, starting with Van Dyke at the helm. They return three of their five starting linemen, but will be a little inexperienced at receiver.
Top defensive player: CB Tyrique Stevenson
Top returning tackler: LB Waynmon Steed, 54
Top returning sacker: LB Keontra Smith, 3
Top returning interceptor: S James Williams, 2
These guys were really bad last year. They were 75th in total defense and gave up three more touchdowns than they scored. They hit the transfer portal pretty hard, but odds are this is going to be a multi-year revamp for Mario Cristobal.
#8, Mississippi State
Top offensive player: QB Will Rogers
Top returning rusher: Who cares. They don’t run.
Top returning passer: Rogers, 505-683 (73.9%), 4,739 yards, 36 TD, 9 INT
Top returning receiver: Austin Williams, 52 catches, 617 yards, 4 TD
Ok, I joked about the lack of a running game, but Jo’quavious Marks had more than 900 yards of total offense last season. He may get a lot more work this season as Rogers lost a lot of targets and State is trying to piece together a new receiver group on the fly.
Top defensive player: CB Emmanuel Forbes
Top returning tackler: LB Jett Johnson, 86
Top returning sacker: LB Tyrus Wheat, 6
Top returning interceptor: Forbes, 3
Could it be that Mississippi State’s strength this year could be…defense? They definitely return a lot of veteran players who have put up some numbers — it’s an experienced group across the board. Next year will be painful, but this defense could be good.
#9, Ole Miss
Top offensive player: OL Nick Broeker
Top returning rusher: Kentrel Bullock, 17 carries, 78 yards
Top returning passer: Luke Altmyer, 20-37 (54.1%), 192 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Top returning receiver: Jonathan Mingo, 22 catches, 346 yards, 3 TD
The turnover on the Ole Miss offense is unreal. Bullock is the only back left to ever take a snap for the Rebels. Jaxson Dart came over from USC and will likely be the quarterback, while Evans takes over as RB1 after everyone else left. Mingo and Dannis Jackson are the “experienced” wideouts, and Jackson caught 12 passes last year. But the offensive line should still be a strength.
Best defensive player: DE Cedric Johnson
Top returning tackler: SS Otis Reese, 91
Top returning sacker: Johnson, 6.5
Top returning interceptor: FS AJ Finley, 3
Not only did the Rebels lose DC DJ Durkin to A&M, but they lost the majority of their production and pass rush. Not a single Ole Miss defender made any of the three preseason All-SEC teams. Not. One. Lane Kiffin is trying to plug holes with transfers and it may work, but odds are this defense will have to develop very fast.
#10, South Carolina
Top offensive player: QB Spencer Rattler
Top returning rusher: Marshawn Lloyd, 64 carries, 228 yards, 1 TD
Top returning passer: Luke Doty, 86-143 (60.1%), 975 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT
Top returning receiver: Josh Vann, 43 catches, 679 yards, 5 TD
Bringing in Rattler and TE Austin Stogner from OU gives this offense a little more life and some weapons to go with Vann. But the offensive line is still flat-out bad, Lloyd has been a disappointment and they need more receiver help.
Top defensive player: DT Zacch Pickens
Top returning tackler: LB Brad Johnson, 74
Top returning sacker: Pickens, 4
Top returning interceptor: Nickel Cam Smith, 4
The Gamecocks have been waiting for years for their defense to take the next step and they hope, yet again, that this is the year. Smith and Pickens are really good, but there’s a ton of question marks otherwise. Shane Beamer has USC on the right track, but it may still take some time.
