Aggies get signing day addition in 4-star WR
Missouri City Ridge Point's Ashton Bethel-Roman's recruiting journey has been a wild one, but the 4-star receiver has signed with Texas A&M.
Bethel-Roman wasn't even on A&M's radar during the tenure of Jimbo Fisher, who was able to obtain the commitments of five other receivers. Four of those receivers de-committed after Mike Elko arrived, allowing him to revamp the group in a way he and new offensive coordinator Collin Klein saw fit.
That included Bethel-Roman, who caught 49 passes for 964 yards and 9 touchdowns in his senior season. He visited A&M right before the early signing period but decided to stick with his commitment to Arkansas and signed with the Razorbacks. But with the arrival of former A&M offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino in the same role in Fayetteville and the departure of receivers coach Kenny Guiton, Bethel-Roman asked to be released from his national letter of intent.
When that occurred last week, Bethel-Roman immediately made plans to visit A&M. That was enough for the 6-foot-2 receiver to pick the Aggies over offers from Baylor, TCU, Oregon, Ole Miss and Nebraska, among others.
Elko now has three 4-star receivers signed from the 2024 class, with Bethel-Roman joining signees Ernest Campbell and Izaiah Williams. The Aggies also have signed transfers Cyrus Allen from Louisiana Tech and Jabre Barber from Troy to fill out their receiver corps.
Analysis of A&M's newest signee
Bethel-Roman can run, as his 21.5-second 200-meter time can attest to. But what strikes me is how effortless he makes it look. He's such a long strider than he picks up yardage in a hurry. It seems like Elko and Klein saw the size and the speed and decided he was one to pursue. He averaged 19.6 yards per catch in 2023, so they're probably on to something.
It's remarkable how Bethel-Roman can get past corners at the line so quickly and it doesn't look like he's running hard. He just makes a couple of those long strides and he's past them. He doesn't look tremendously elusive, but he can cut and change direction pretty well. I have some concerns about him maybe not catching the ball out away from his body, but there are several highlights where he clearly does.
The Aggies have racked up three burners in this class with Ernest Campbell, Izaiah Williams and now Bethel-Roman. Add in Micah Tease and the Aggies have four guys who can stretch the field and take over for the current crop of starters perhaps as early as 2025.