Q: Every year it seems like you have one recruit that ruins your appetite for recruiting. This year it’s Evans or Broughton. Last year It was Javonne Shepherd. There’s been Jordan/Joshua Moore and even Daylon Mack. What are the things that drive you craziest? Does it make a difference if they end up signing with A&M or another school? If they sign with A&M, do you ever get to chat with the recruits about the drama? (Jessexy)

A: The things that get to me are when recruits lie to your face and think it’s cute. I really don’t care where kids go, for the most part -- some of my favorites went elsewhere. But my belief is if you’re fair to them, they should be at least honest with you. If kids tell me where they’re going and don’t want it out, it doesn’t get out. But, as time has gone on, it’s becoming easier to tell which ones, for the lack of a better term, are full of it.

Q: What key things will you be looking for in the Saturday game against Arky? (BoxsterBoy72)

A: Balance on offense -- in other words, running the football and seeing the offensive line do what it’s supposed to. On defense, my big deal will be watching the secondary and seeing if they do their jobs. Don’t bite on play action, don’t run yourselves out of plays and, most importantly, tackle.

Q: Expecting any new starters this week? Maybe McCollum, Leal, Hansford, Martin? Seems like Jimbo was willing to shake things up personnel-wise in some of his postgame comments this weekend. If no new starters then who gets an increase in snaps compared to earlier in the season? Seems like ASmith gets in the game a lot sooner going forward. (pebbycree)

A: No, I’m not expecting new starters. I do think Leal will see more snaps. Hansford and Martin will probably see quite a few because Arkansas is pass-first and they’ll want to get after Nick Starkel.

Q: Where does help on the o-line come from next year? Do we have to hope for continued maturity and improvement from the guys we’ve got? Do we have anyone already on campus who can realistically step up? Are we recruiting anyone - freshman, JC, or transfer - who can make an immediate impact? (TAMU-83)

A: There will be changes next year, for sure. Luke Matthews, Barton Clement, Tank Jenkins and Cole Blanton will all have been on campus for three years. Blake Trainor will be back. Layden Robinson will have another year under his belt. They should have a pretty big wave of true freshman linemen coming in, even though I would suspect only Akinola Ogunbiyi will be really ready to go after a job. As for the guys who are already there, you’ll have two seniors and, probably, a third in the starting lineup in 2020. They had better be at their best by then, or there should be competition to replace them.

Q: It's not all Monds fault the Offense seems to sputter, but is Mond just a little too laid back in his demeanor? Should he be yelling his head off and having a temper tantrum at those receivers and OL? (AgsRule97!)

A: What good does that do? Mond isn’t Johnny. He’s not Bucky. It’s not who he is. I did see him go over to Camron Buckley and get in his face after a drop last weekend. That didn’t get noticed, I suppose. But what works for one guy doesn’t work for others, and it’s a terrible mistake for fans to think that all QBs have to act the same way to be effective.

Q: Give us a formation or set that you think the Aggies are the best from.. 3 receivers? 4? What would you do as far as personnel to make it better? (SGTB83)

A: I like the four-wide set this year. Last year, they were definitely better in the three wides, one tight end look, but that was with Sternberger. As for personnel, I’d have Ainias Smith in there in place of either Buckley or Kendrick Rogers (which would mean Quartney Davis outside) a fair amount. He has earned that opportunity.

Q: What does Jimbo’s OC actually do? (h273)

A: Darrell Dickey helps put together the scheme and the offensive game plan.

Q: Malzahn runs a pretty interesting scheme. Sort of Paul Johnson triple option meets Dan Mullen power spread. Why do you think more coaches haven't tried to copy it? (Boo yah)

A: Because it frequently doesn’t work. You need a lot of speed on the edges, which isn’t always easy to get; you need a running quarterback. And, it helps if the other guys don’t scheme to it.

Q: One would think with LSU absolutely lighting it up (after adapting much of the New Orleans Saints offensive scheme) and with Joe Burrow now a Heisman candidate, AND with A&M's offense seemingly stuck in low gear and very predictable that Jimbo/Dickey would adapt accordingly. Chances of this happening? Coaches cut/copy/paste all of the time, and this adaption has suddenly made LSU pretty formidable (through 4 games) (Cypress Aggie)

A: Yeah, that’s not happening. No way. This is who Jimbo is and he’s had great success with it. He does get into playcalling ruts, and he unquestionably was in one last weekend. But just as you’re jumping on the LSU bandwagon after four games, it’s worth nothing (as you did) that it’s FOUR GAMES. And they haven’t played a real defense yet. In any case, it’s not how Jimbo operates and I’m not sure the Aggies have the personnel to do that anyway.

Q: Does A&M improve when they play Arky?

Also, we have a bye and then we play Bama. Will the next 3 weeks help A&M get ready for Bama?

Can we see improvement the next 3 weeks to have a better showing for Bama game? (El Capullo)

A: In response to all three questions -- hopefully.

Q: What's the status of Evan's and his team? Was there ever an explanation for the suspension? (Jaydub2)

A: There has been nothing said about it that I’ve heard, but he’s playing again, so...I don’t know. It’s a riddle wrapped up in a mystery in an enigma.

Q: Do you have a feeling whether there is some split in buy in from the players into Jimbo’s approach compared to Sumlin’s? (Slixey)

A: No. Not at all. In fact, I was surprised at the lack of a split.

Q: Based upon this year’s performance and especially losses (against good competition) does this change the outlook for 2020? More specifically do you think we can make the playoffs and potentially win a Natty without game breakers on offense? If so, why? (BJK01)

A: For me? No. I’m right where I was. We’re a third of the way through the season, so I’m not ready to white flag it yet. The 2019 team played its best down the stretch, and I’m hoping for a similar progression. And I don’t agree that they don’t have gamebreakers. Jhamon Ausbon has, quietly, been one of the most explosive players in America so far. I think Isaiah Spiller, by 2020 at least, will be a bigtime player. Quartney Davis has that potential. Baylor Cupp will be back, and Jaylen Wydermyer will be much more experienced. And you’re adding Demond Demas.

Q: Will Evans be an early signer? (h273)

A: Sam Spiegelman says he will be.

Q: Any chance Freshman Williams gets playing time in the secondary with Richardson? At least he will tackle someone. Or is he a for sure redshirt... (bobdoc54)

A: He has played two possessions in one game. That makes me think he’s not ready.

Q: 1. You listed a number of issues in your frank but brutally honest analysis of the Auburn game. How can the staff fix all these issues so the Aggies have a successful, winning season going forward?

A: It’s not just the staff. It’s the players too. Everyone has to get their minds right and get after things. There’s no margin for error.

2. Watching the Auburn game disaster of biblical proportions, it appeared the refs were allowing gross pass-interferences by Auburn defensive backs without throwing flags. Why do think that is? Or are my eyes deceiving me?

A: SEC officials suck. This is a recording.

3. Given A&M's performance against ranked teams so far, how do think the staff should, or not, alter its recruiting targets going forward?

A: I don’t think they should. Maybe they should emphasize another offensive tackle in their search. I have them leading for enough players to get them to 23 commits, so they can do that if I’m close to right.

4. With the lure of NFL money always beckoning, when do you think A&M will ever field an experienced, talented team with mostly senior and junior players? Actually, is that possible in today's college football with so many talented players doing two or three and done at the college level? (Chuck70)

A: I would suggest you look at next year.

Q: Will Clemson actually get all 4 of the top ranked recruits in the '20 class?

A: Probably.

When will Chris Morris commit to the good guys?

A: Oct. 12-ish.

Will we make up ground on Bama, Auburn, LSU, and Georgia in any meaningful way in the 2020 recruiting class when it's all done? (tsip despiser)

A: Well, they’re not done yet either, but if A&M holds serve and finishes the way I think they will, it will be hard to complain about the haul.

Q: Does it look like we will still take a full class for 2020? How about 2021 (indications)? (Dirkieduck)

A: Yes in both cases.

Q: I roughly understand the PFF scores, so I thought... until seeing the high PFF scores for Arkansas's offensive players. They have a horrible offense (e.g. FPI offensive ranking is 114, among the worst in the country), yet good individual PFF scores like 79, 78, 78, 73, 71, 69, 66, etc. Obviously it won't show an exact correlation, but this is crazy, it's almost like an inverse relationship for Arkansas's offense. Can you elaborate further on the PFF scores so that we better understand the significance and can make sense of it all? (SGMan)

A: This is how they explain their system. Substitute NCAA for NFL and this applies:

“On every play, a PFF analyst will grade each player on a scale of -2 to +2 according to what he did on the play. At one end of the scale you have a catastrophic game-ending interception or pick-six from a quarterback, and at the other a perfect deep bomb into a tight window in a critical game situation, with the middle of that scale being 0-graded, or ‘expected’ plays that are neither positive nor negative.

Each game is also graded by a second PFF analyst independent of the first, and those grades are compared by a third, Senior Analyst, who rules on any differences between the two. These grades are verified by the Pro Coach Network, a group of former and current NFL coaches with over 700 combined years of NFL coaching experience, to get them as accurate as they can be.

From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation; this ranges from where a player lined up to the dropback depth of the quarterback or the length of time he had the ball in his hand and everything in between. They are finally converted to a 0-100 scale.”

Frankly, I still don’t understand them. They’ve ranked some players that I think have had horrible games highly and ones I thought were solid in the gutter. I especially don’t understand how they’ve scored Arkansas’ defense.

Q: How many snaps do you see A Smith getting this weekend/from now on and at who's expense?

A: I hope he gets more. He could take some from both Buckley and Rogers because neither has set the world on fire.

Biggest disappointment this year on defense?

A: Probably Leon O’Neal, but Micheal Clemons hasn’t exactly impressed me. For a guy of his size, speed and athleticism, he vanishes from games for long periods of time.

Why haven't we seen Mond run more?

A: I have two theories on that: one, he’s so dead set on making plays in the passing game that he has become tunnel-visioned; two, I think it has unintentionally been coached out of him, as they really want him to run as a last resort. But sometimes, the last resort can still be a huge positive.

Q: It appears that the 2019 Aggie Football team will only be as good as their Offensive Line can take them and improve from its porous play thus far. This worries me since this is an overall veteran group with only one Freshman starting (and he’s supposedly been the best of the bunch). So what do you think will help them improve this season so that we can be successful?

A. They finally gel and start “getting” their assignments

B. The backups get healthy and infuse some much needed help (EX. Tank Jenkins?)

C. The RB’s & TE’s improve their Pass Pro and carry their weight

D. Shift in Offensive philosophy and we start to see Kellen roll out more

E. Just wait until next year when reinforcements are ready to replace vets (Ex. C. Morris, Blanton, Matthews, Clement, etc)

F. The schedule gets easier (only 2 more tough DL’s to face) so we just ride it out.

G. Other ___________ (DXB19)

A: A, C, D.

Q: serious question - echoing the one above on realistic outlook on OL

1. anyone we have capable of stepping in now and being less of a turnstyle or get immediately pushed 5 yds in the backfield?

A: No.

2. anybody either being redshirted now or we have committed that does not fit the above descriptions

A: Maybe.

3. why is Henson suddenly seeing the need to recruit 5 tackles in 2021(?) none worthwhile in 2020?

A: He’s recruiting tackles now. Chris Morris will be a tackle. They want Garrett Hayes and/or Ty’kieast Crawford. So you’re being both inaccurate and unfair.

4. still think Henson is all that and a bag of chips? (Rooster77)

A: At this point last year, people wanted Jim Turner’s head. Now those same people (Ahem) think he’s the lost Messiah. I thought the potbangers were ridiculous then and I think they are now. If there’s no improvement by the end of the year, that’s different. But this? This is silliness (I could have said something harsher, but I’m trying to be nicer).

Q: I don’t launch personal insults, political threads or argue religion on this site, what do I have to do to get Passwaters and Fletch to come to my tailgate party? Courtney came by last year, maybe I should leave well enough alone.

On a more serious note, is there anyone on the staff who can tell Jimbo how the cow ate the cabbage and Jimbo listen? Any check and balance on Jimbo where someone speaks candidly with him? This is beyond the Auburn game, I am just curious if he is open to listening to other coaches in their ideas. (BC93)

A: Sorry, I usually don’t do tailgates. I get there two hours early and go right to work. I only stop by Old Army’s tailgate to check on his widow. She’s one of my favorite people on earth. But if the invitation remains open, I'll make sure to swing by.

I’m sure that he takes advice from the others. You don’t get to his level if you don’t. But heck, all he has to do is watch the game film from a remotely critical perspective and he can see what went wrong.