Aggies continue recruiting run, add 4-star OL
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Texas A&M's hot streak on the recruiting trail continued Wednesday with the verbal commitment of Prosper 4-star offensive lineman Connor Carty.
Carty racked up an impressive number of offers, including from the likes of Texas, USC, Oregon, LSU, Penn State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Florida. He took recent trips to USC and OU, then visited Texas A&M again this past weekend.
Mike Elko and his staff took a quick interest in Carty, and his interest in A&M only increased with the addition of offensive line coach Adam Cushing. After his most recent visit, Carty had decided he had seen enough and was ready to make a commitment.
Carty is the eighth commitment for the 2025 recruiting class, and the seventh from Texas. He's also the third offensive lineman in the class, joining Josh Moses and one of A&M's most recent commits, Marcus Garcia of Denton Ryan.
Analysis of A&M's newest commit
My, but he's a nasty one, isn't he?
At 6-foot-4 and nearly 300 pounds, Carty is already a physical force. But he's nimble on his feet, is quick and really, really likes to hit people.
You can see pretty quickly he's got the ability to move. He's got good footwork, as he takes quick steps that allow him to change direction quickly. He's really good as a lead blocker on counter plays, where he pulls and leads the back into the hole on the left side of the line. He gets out of his stance quickly and is ready to go once the back has the ball.
He looks a little bit hesitant in pass protection, but that may be simply from a lack of reps. But he still looks good doing it. But his forte is definitely is in run blocking, where looks to be in his element.
And boy, is he mean. I don't think I've ever seen an offensive lineman run 60 yards down the field so he can shove someone after the whistle. If he doesn't have someone to block, he'll knock down the guy engaged with the center. On more than one highlight, he flattens two guys on the same play. He goes looking for contact and thrives on the chance to bully a defensive lineman.
Carty's already got a good skill set and solid technique, but it'll get better as he improves his punch and uses his long arms to really smack somebody. He doesn't really extend them much, letting guys get in closer before he shoves them away. He may not want to do that in the SEC, where guys are going to be bigger and stronger.
Overall, I really like this kid. He can move and he clearly has the mindset you want in an offensive lineman. I think his future could be real bright at the next level.