Q: When is Erick Young back? Will he play this year? (WUNDY)

A: I’m expecting him back next weekend, so we’ll see where he stands in the rotation.

Q: Bigger WR disappointment Rogers or Chapman? Bigger WR surprise Davis or the new fish? That one may be too easy, so what do you think of the WR group overall. This was supposed to be the strength...

A: Rogers is easily the bigger disappointment. How can he not be? Chapman didn’t play at all last year and was supposed to be a backup, and he is. The wideout corps as a whole is still a strength. Quartney Davis is really good, Jhamon Ausbon has been great so far and Ainias Smith has been a revelation. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be greatly appreciated if Rogers or Camron Buckley stepped up.

Okeke? Can’t remember what’s going on with him, but I know I haven’t really heard his name in a while.

A: Okeke got beat out by Aaron Hansford and Andre White for the primary backup jobs. He’s on special teams.

OL is clearly the biggest weakness of this team. Given that they’re all <SR (except Prater), and there doesn’t seem to be anyone pushing for PT, how are we going to make a run with these guys next year? (elicrow)

A: Well, I think you have simplified things massively. Cole Blanton, Tank Jenkins and Blake Trainor will all be back from injuries; Luke Matthews and Barton Clement will have another year of experience. Ryan McCollum will probably be the center, but Layden Robinson will also be involved. So if they want open competition, they can have it.

Q: With a lot of sophomores and juniors in the 2 deep next year, which current recruit has a chance to play on Defense??? (el capullo)

A: Jaylen Jones, without question. But I could see Isaiah Raikes or Dallas Walker getting a shot at defensive tackle too, grabbing a handful of snaps here and there.

Q: Why haven’t we seen more of Chattman?

A: Because they feel more comfortable with Charles Oliver at nickel. And Roney Elam should be back there next week.

Why did play Leal much less vs Arky,as compared to Auburn? (tschaar)

A: He did play a good bit, but Micheal Clemons had a very good game. Maybe his best in an A&M uniform.

Q: How much of the inevitable roster cuts this year are undermining the cohesion of the team?

A: They're not.

Defensively, setting the edge and speed off the edge seem to be the major weaknesses of this team, am I seeing it correctly?

A: Setting the edge, yes. Speed? Maybe. I said no but they're not getting enough pressure from their ends, especially their speed guys.

Curious why Jimbo does not have more waffles and bootlegs in his scheme, some of Mond’s best throws are out of the pocket. Seems this would help the oline as well.

A: They used a few last week and they worked. I’d like to see more of it.

Outside of QB, what is the one position if we replace with best in the game would make the most impact on this team? (BC93)

A: Left tackle.

Q: What can you do in 10 days to make the OL better? (capag)

A: Keep them gelling and more comfortable with each other. And straighten out the mental assignment busts.

Q: What are our odds with Arik Gilbert? Ranking aside, it seems like he should be a high priority given how much we are missing having an elite pass catching TE. (DCAg12)

A: I think he’s leaning Alabama’s way, but the recruits who were with him two weeks ago feel like A&M did themselves a lot of good.

Q: simon or garfunkel? (chandler bhang)

A: Henley and Frey.

Q: 1. Since joining the SEC, A&M has only prevailed in one game against Alabama, 2012, 29-24, the first and best year with Johnny Football as QB. Since that win, A&M has lost six in a row by an average score of 36.29-17.29. Only two of those 6 games were losses within a touchdown (2013, 49-42, and 2017 27-19). Given how the season has gone so far against ranked teams, what does A&M have to do to have a reasonable chance at winning this year's game?

A: Don’t turn the ball over, get after an Alabama defense that hasn’t been that impressive (especially against the pass), get creative with what you show Tua and tackle their receivers in open space.

2. What positions does the staff need to concentrate on to develop A&M into a legitimate contender next year and beyond? What staff changes may need to be made as well?

A: Just continue to build talent across the board. I think they have much of what they need in this class already (explosive wideout, top notch corner, excellent safety, speedy pass rusher); they need to get an offensive tackle or two and another big time running back.

3. What's your estimate on the chances of moving the Arkansas game to a home to home schedule? (Chuck70)

A: 100%— in 2025.

Q: Do the coaches have any interest in Kaedric Cobbs, RB, Denton Guyer? He's Eli Stower's teammate and he's 2nd in the DFW Area in rushing in 6A.

Kaedric Cobbs, Denton Guyer 78 Attempts 698 Yards 10 TD's thru 4 games.He's got a bunch of smaller offers. Several Ivy League offers. (Tsip despiser)

A: No.

Q: Okay, dumb question warning. I've heard a lot recently about zone blocking, man blocking, gap blocking and something called stretch blocking. I have no clue. Can you tell me what we run and what type of player is best suited for which scheme? Also, what are most of the top teams in the SEC are running? Thanks. (RiffRaff81)

A: Man blocking, or power, is just that: man on man, get your guy and drive him off the ball. Zone blocking is where two or three linemen work in unison, crashing down on a tackle or end and having another lineman seal from the back. The Aggies ran a lot of zone against Arkansas, but they also used some counter action off of that. That's where you pull a lineman and bring him in as a lead blocker. When you do it right, that's a lot of muscle in front of your back. Stretch blocking is really more for just one play, a stretch run, which is a glorified sweep. Instead of trying to take the defensive linemen north-south, you try to get them going east-west, thinning out the line and allowing gaps to appear.

Q: Will any of our walking wounded OL players getting healed enough to help? (Have Gun Will Travel)

A: No.

Q: Who are our current walk-ons on scholarship? I'm only counting 80 players from our recruiting classes that are still on our roster or that haven't announced they're transferring. (Gigem85)

A: Technically, if you’re on scholarship, you’re not a walk-on anymore. But in this case, there aren’t any who fit your description.

Q: Any chance Mond goes pro after this season? (h273)

A: I think it would be a huge mistake if he did at this point.

Q: Can you compare Jimbo’s offense to coach Riley’s offense at OU?

Without going into technical detail, Riley’s offense seems to find space to operate skill players against a variety of defenses, and it seems Jimbo’s offense relies on preset routes that don’t appear to fool anyone.We don’t see our WR’s create separation in part because it seems defenses can easily predict our routes and stick with our guy (Smith being the loan exception). We also see Mond committed to moving the ball in the air to the detriment of moving the ball by running it.At what point, do we acknowledge that maybe the main issue for not putting up points is Jimbo’s offense does not create enough space for our skill players, is predictable, and not at all creative?Riley is able to put up 40+ points per game. I think he could do the same with our players.Is Jimbo’s approach dated and no longer able to put up the kind of points to win in today’s game?Keep in mind, we don’t have many explosive plays and when we do move down the field it’s on typical midrange route running and typical running plays. There’s nothing explosive or imaginative with what we do with the ball. And I think our ability to score bears that out.Jimbo might be an elite coach at a lot of aspects of the job but his offensive approach seems about 15 years old with very little evolution to modern playcalling built-in. (Cheeky Schneider)

A: A couple of things here: if you like Riley’s offense, you had it. It’s Kevin Sumlin’s with a couple different play calls. It’s linemen in two point stances with zone blocking and four sides with the QB in the shotgun. It’s the spread. And A&M could easily score 40 with their personnel — in the Big 12. So I don’t know if you’re trolling or not, but I don’t agree with your premise.

Q: how much of our o-lines problems are talent vs scheme? (big_chin)

A: When a tackle gets whipped around the edge because he's not fast enough and the other tackle gets shoved back into his quarterback, that’s not scheme.