Aggies land 4-star TE
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The combination of attrition and losses to the transfer portal left Texas A&M in need of a tight end in the 2023 class. They got one Tuesday night in 4-star Haslet Eaton's Jaden Platt.
It's been a circuitous route for Platt, who was considered an Aggie lean well over a year ago before A&M had their remarkable haul of Donovan Green, Jake Johnson and Theo Ohrstrom in the 2022 class. That seemed to shut the door for Platt, who promptly committed to Stanford, where he was committed for 369 days.
The loss of Max Wright and Blake Smith changed things for the Aggies, who brought Platt in for a last-second official visit this past weekend. What may have altered things even more for Platt was the departure of coach David Shaw from Stanford, which led him to reconsider his options.
The Aggies did a smart thing during Platt's official visit: they took him on a tour of A&M's College of Engineering. One of the sharpest individuals in the entire 2023 recruiting class, Platt intends to major in engineering.
Platt is the 16th commit for the Aggies in the 2023 recruiting class and continues a hot streak on the offensive side of the football. Over the span of the past few weeks, A&M has added 4-star running back Rueben Owens, 4-star QB Marcel Reed and stands to add 4-star ATH/WR Micah Tease on Wednesday.
Analysis of A&M's newest commit
The Aggies didn't need another tight end, but Platt's too good not to take. He's got solid size, but he has a wideout's skills in a tight end's body.
When's the last time you saw a tight end run a go route? Maybe Donovan Green did it in high school. I think Jalen Wydermyer did it once in 2021. Platt is one of those extremely rare tight ends who can actually take the top off a defense. He's got very good speed for his size, his excellent footwork and can really cause problems in the open field. He's not a tight end who will just rumble down the middle of the field looking to hit somoene; he'll make you miss.
Even though he seems most comfortable in the slot, and he may do that a lot at A&M, he is also a willing and aggressive blocker. He'll get better at that as time goes on and he gets a little bigger, but he's not afraid to stick his nose in there and knock an opposing linebacker out of the way.
This is an excellent pickup for A&M. They need weapons on offense and teaming Platt with Green and Jake Johnson is going to give opponents all kinds of headaches. When he became available, he was absolutely too good to pass up.