Q: Chris Marshall and Le’Veon Moss, who will have the bigger impact this year? (H273)

A: I think Marshall is the heavy favorite here. I mean, Marshall might start if he has a good summer. Moss won’t see a lot of playing time unless several people get hurt.

Q: What will it take for A&M’s baseball team to crack the top 25? They’ve taken the series from 3 top 25 teams right? (erikjackson)

A: They’ve taken two out of three from LSU and Georgia, who were both nationally ranked. But in non-conference games, they’ve spanked Texas, Texas State and Dallas Baptist, all of whom were ranked at that time. And I do mean spanked; A&M beat the brakes off of all three of them. They should be ranked already, but a good showing this weekend against No. 3 Arkansas will make a ranking a foregone conclusion.

Q: Did Jake J earn baylor cupp’s starting spot and force the transfer... sorry to beat a dead horse just curious if BMA rumors are true

A: No. Doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t have, but that’s not accurate.

Also has crownovers move to OT been so successful that we don’t need to go after a transfer portal tackle & basically roll into 2022 with only three ready OT’s with one being a new starter (Colorado Tackle is talented) (Hammr40)

A: It’s not just Dametrious Crownover. They’ve also got Aki Ogunbiyi and, if need be, Blake Trainor. I expect Hunter Erb and Kam Dewberry will start off at tackle and can be moved inside if they decide that’s a better idea.

Q: Who’s your top 3 most important recruits for this class?

A: Linebacker Anthony Hill is the top of the list for me, no question. Then it would probably be OL TJ Shanahan DL Anthony Hicks. The Aggies aren’t suffering from a need for defensive linemen, but when you’re talking about one of the three best players in America, that changes the equation.

Where’s deuce Harmon on the depth chart? (Tschaar)

He’s coming off an injury and didn’t practice this spring, so that kind of leaves him in limbo. I think he’ll play nickel and safety and he will definitely play, but it’s not a certainty on how DJ Durkin will use him.

Q: Can you give your opinion on what OL's are the highest priority for the staff at this point in recruiting? (RingDunker93)

A: Not really, because they’re still offering. I think you can safety say Shanahan is priority 1, and they would be very happy to get Connor Stroh. From there, I think they’re looking for tackles and that process is ongoing.

Q: Micaiah Overton says he is a legacy. Would you remind me who he is referring to? (86Aggie)

A: It’s using “legacy” a little loosely. He grew up in College Station (LT was born there) and his dad worked at A&M for several years.

Q: We all really liked the Wednesday Newsletter and I wanted to ask if you could bring it back? (Jershua)

A: I really need to. I just need to find things to talk about. After Monday Thoughts and 10 Things for Tuesday, sometimes I’m just burned out.

Q: It's pretty clear we're seeing kids transfer to get better NIL deals so: 1) Do you anticipate the NCAA altering the transfer rules to the pre-covid status quo where players had to sit out a year?; 2) Will we see the federal government get involved to create uniform NIL regulations?; and 3) Will we have to see a "salary cap" enacted to keep an unproven HS kid from getting an $8MM NIL deal? (AggieInDC)

A: 1) No.

2) That’s what the NCAA wants and is actively lobbying for.

3) The NCAA isn’t going to do diddly-squat. After getting blasted by the Supreme Court for its questionably legal business practices, the NCAA has decided to go off in the corner and sulk and let things fall as they may.

Q: If Achane averages 7.5 yds/carry this season, how many games do we win?

A: Kind of depends on how many touches he gets. If he gets 20 carries a game, A&M is going to be really tough.

when does the baseball team get some ranking love? (91 Ag)

A: Should be getting it already.

Q: Any truth to story that Hassan Diarra is in the portal? Any info as to why? Seemed like the played well down the stretch through NIT run . . . (Maroon Saloon)

A: It’s true. The only thing that I can think of is that he wanted more playing time and Wade Taylor is going to increase his minutes in 2022. That left him and Andre Gordon fighting for fewer minutes, and he may just want more time on the court.

Q: Following the greatest recruiting class in history, in the eyes of recruits, media, and Alumni how does A&M have to rank in the final '23 team standings to be perceived as successful?

A: I think that the expectation is going to be that they are a CFP team in 2023. Which, honestly, is not unfair.

If Fisher doesn't win a natty in the next four year, how do you think this will affect A&M's reputation moving forwards thru the eyes of recruits, media, and Alumni? (Big Smoothie)

A: Depends on how well they do overall. But, at the very least, there would be a sense they didn’t reach their full potential.

Q: Even though 0 and 6 can take it to the house on any given return, do u forsee Jimbo bringing new faces who may be as explosive in order to reduce risk of injury-?? I don’t forsee rb1 out on kick off return

Who could those candidates be ? Maybe some of the incoming freshman ? (gatillero_76)

A: I’ve had a similar thought. Both are among the tops in the nation as returners, but do you want to run that risk? If they don’t, I think you could see guys like Moose Muhammad (who was good returning punts last year) or maybe Smoke Bouie back there. Evan Stewart is also possible, but for the same reasons mentioned for Ainias Smith and Devon Achane, I have my doubts.

Q: We lost a lot, but we have a lot of talent coming in. ESPN has us preseason ranked #5. That seems a bit lofty to me. What do you think are reasonable expectations for the season. How many wins would you put as your over / under? (Thepassag)

A: 5 may be high, but this is a stacked roster — albeit a young one. But everything’s there — if the quarterbacks are good and the receiver play improves. Everything else seems to be in place. So I think going with 10 wins as an over/under is not unreasonable.

Q: I know it's early; but how do you think Durkin will compare to Elko this fall from the spring practices? Do you think he can improve our defense over last year's since there are more talents and depth around though maybe less experience? (kyling)

A: Here’s what I got out of spring ball in terms of defensive scheme: zilch. We didn’t see nearly enough and I think Durkin was as interested in learning his personnel as he was implementing the scheme this spring. If we want to guess at how things will look, Durkin was very multiple at Ole Miss last year, using a lot of different looks. He is also very aggressive, blitzing a lot. I could see him using a lot of players, both up front in the secondary, in specified roles. That way, he could keep players fresh and maximize their best abilities.