Q: Do you think both King and Johnson will stay and not transfer? (GMalone)
A: Let me put it this way: Jimbo seems to think they will. I’m a lot less certain on that. When the logic is that one guy has already transferred once, so he won’t again, that’s debatable. And King may be the type of guy to finish what he started – but what if he’s not a starter? I can see reasons for both of them to leave after this season, and would not be surprised if one of them does. But we should probably try to get through the season first.
Q: 1. Has Tarian Lee solidified himself as the 3rd LB in?
A: No.
2. Do you believe the WRs have or will have by season's start:
(a) improved their releases off the line of scrimmage?
(b) be able to create more separation in their routes?
(Asking about whole group. I think Smith and probably Stewart will be elite at both.)
A: They’d better have. This is going to be critical to their overall success.
3. For us, who:
(a) catches 1st TD?
A: Achane.
(b) gets 1st sack?
Shemar Turner.
(c) makes 1st interception? (JustAvgIllini)
Tyreek Chappell.
Q: Do you think with NIL there be less flips of recruits? Or more? (QuickDrawMcGraw77)
A: My initial thought is there will be less. But, eventually, someone is going to decommit and someone will try suing them for breach of contract and all hell will break loose.
Q: Jimbo said our NIL deals are public knowledge. Are they and if so how come we rarely see them? (h273)
A: I’m sure they are public knowledge. Now, here’s the trick: Figure out who you have to ask and/or send a Freedom of Information Act request to. A&M’s not involved, so it wouldn’t be them.
Q: Why such a big discrepancy in TJ Shanahan rankings? Do you agree with rivals or somewhere in between?
A: I have watched Shanahan at camps for the past two years. He has taken on all comers and handled them. In some cases, manhandled them. So I’m definitely leaning more towards the Rivals eval. He’s the most powerful interior linemen I’ve seen at a camp since Bryce Foster.
Top defensive recruits on our board? (tschaar)
A: I think you start with DJ Hicks, Anthony Hill and Javien Toviano. Those are the top targets. Then there’s a bunch of other guys behind them. But those are the really big three, as their overall ranking would indicate.
Q: I'll ask the obvious question on most aggies' minds regarding this recruiting cycle. What's the explanation for what's happening with Jimbos recruiting this cycle?
The, "hey it's a small class and we're just being selective" rings more hollow by the day as more and more of our targets disappear off the board. I've followed aggie recruiting for thirty years and have never seen anything like this kind of dry spell outside of the early 90s when we had probation hanging over us. That and the Fran years. What gives? I think that's the question everyone is wondering about.....and name some aggie leans. (agcatter123)
A: This is a joke? Right? It has to be a joke.
Let’s take this apart one piece at a time. “Hey, it’s a small class and we’re just being selective” rings more hollow by the day… Why? A&M’s prime targets are still out there. They won’t get all of them, but they’ll get more than their fair share.
“Never seen anything like this kind of dry spell…” That’s a short memory. In the 2018 class, Kevin Sumlin went 8 months, and then another 5 months, with a single commit. THEY WENT FOUR MONTHS LAST YEAR WITHOUT A COMMIT. This isn’t anywhere close to that.
“Name some aggie leans.” I did in Monday Thoughts. I put 13 players, including four 5-stars, that A&M is in the top two for.
Just because guys aren’t committing on your schedule doesn’t mean the class is a disaster or things are going badly. Last year, A&M had a 30 player class. They had 11 commits at this point. 15 of them – half the class – committed after Nov. 1. In other words, you’re gonna have to wait and try not to freak out.
Q: Mark,
On a scale of 1-10, with one being full out panic, and 10 being world wide holocaust panic time, where would you rate how we should feel about our recruiting class now? (MSCAg1997)
A: Oh, clearly it’s a 40.
Q: Seems like there's been an uptick in kids reclassifying and skipping a year to start college early--and I know we have one or two on our team. But I don't get it. A year of physical growth and maturity before starting college eligibility seems like a good thing. The caveat being a kid that a coach thinks could immediately be in the 2 deep as a "true freshman" (which should actually be their senior year in HS, correct?) or the parents are trying to get away from a "bad enviroment" in their hometown, but I don't get the idea that's what’s happening. Are coaching staffs encouraging this?. Now those kids may end up being great players, but don't they just begin their freshman year even further behind? Seems like it wastes a year of eligibility. (Boone8466)
A: I can see that argument and would normally agree with it. But there are a few guys who are physically closer to ready and could use that year in a college strength program – and most of the guys reclassifying aren’t looking to use their full eligibility anyway. They’re figuring that the sooner they’re in college, the sooner they’re out.
Q: Do you think the combined classes (last year and upcoming class) of DB's will give A&M their best defensive backfield of all time? Alternative universes included?
A: I think they’ll be good, but I don’t know if they’ll be best ever good. That’s saying a lot. And I heard that the 2002 secondary on Earth 231 was kickass.
A serious question, or more serious than most: Is there anything behind the rumors that Alabama and tu are paying players not to come to the BBQ (Richard23)
I see someone’s been reading Message Board Geniuses. I have a real hard time believing this one. I can see them badmouthing the hell out of A&M and telling them they’ll catch brain-eating amoebas or something if they go, but intentionally paying a player to stay away? Nah. And if they try that, what’s stopping A&M from paying them to show up?
Q: Can you recap where some of the guys we’ve lost off the team in the past couple of year or so ended up? Curious to see if any make significant contributions elsewhere. (TAMU-83)
A: You want updates on Team Treason (just kidding)? Ok. For this year, here’s what we have:
Zach Calzada to Auburn;
RJ Orebo to Southern Illinois;
Antonio Doyle to Jackson State;
Deandre Jackson to Oklahoma State
Darvon Hubbard to Temple;
Caleb Chapman to Oregon;
Baylor Cupp to Texas Tech;
Dreyden Norwood to Missouri.
Derrick Hunter is unsigned, but has a Mississippi State offer.
Demond Demas is unsigned and I doubt anyone goes after him until his legal issues are resolved.
Q: A lot of justification around the recruiting lull is that we were ahead of the game last year, but other schools "figured out" NIL. Those seem like baseless assumptions - what do you think/know?
A: I think that’s a bunch of people trying to rationalize something when there’s nothing to rationalize.
Our agreement with Arkansas and AT&T stadium is over in 2024, right?
What are the chances of:
1. Renewal
Zero.
2. SEC adding new teams, forcing us to revisit the terms and..
a. opting out
b. extending the contract
c. a situation like 2012-2013 where we temporarily play a home-home, defer the remaining years and finish out the contract (CamocrocAg)
Also zero.
Q: Does A&M have any interest in the QB that just decommited from FSU? (FbFan222)
A: Doesn’t have an offer and I expect he’ll end up in Starkville.
Q: WHY DO YOU THINK WE HAVE SO MANY FANS THAT SCREAM LIKE A GIRL DURING RECRUITING?
A: That’s what they do.
WHY DO FANS THINK THEY KNOW MORE THEN THE COACHES?
That’s what they do.
DO YOU THINK WE RUN MORE TRAPS THIS YEAR TO ACCENTUATE THE BURST OF ACHANE?
A: Sounds pretty reasonable. Addazio likes that sort of thing, too.
WHO WILL BE THE SURPRISE DEF AND OFF PLAYER, NOT NECESSARILY A STARTER?
CHAPPEL IS A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR LAST YEAR. (LufkinAg)
A: Chris Marshall and Shemar Turner.
Q: Will Connor Weigman be a pitcher or a position player? At what point will baseball and football both compete for his time? For instance, will he miss spring football like Achane and Foster? I really don't understand how a QB could do that. (AgNok)
A: He’s a position player, likely a middle infielder. As for your concerns about spring practice, I agree with you. But Jameis Winston was also a pitcher for FSU and that worked out pretty well. So I suppose it can be done, but it sounds exceedingly difficult.
Q: Mark, the Orioles are at .500 at the All-Star break. How are you feeling? (Colt_Seavers)
A: I am in complete, absolute and utter shock.
Q: I know your mantra is there are no "must have" recruits. Of the top recruits you know we are in the running for, which 2 do you want the most and why? (3s2ghill)
A: That’s pretty easy: Anthony Hill and Zachariah Branch. The two best players at need positions (LB and WR).
Q: I thought TE Fernando Garza was going to play baseball too, but he's not on the roster. Am I misremembering that or did it change and he decided to focus on football alone? (Phastman)
A: He was recovering from an ACL injury last fall and really didn’t get a chance to get ready for baseball season. Since football is his primary, it was his first spring, he made the smart move to stick with football. Honestly, that probably becomes permanent, because he was talking about playing baseball under Rob Childress. I don’t know if that offer was still there under Jim Schlossnagle.
Q: Since Groves-Killebrews injury occurred before enrolling and before the first half of a season, does that disqualify him from a medical redshirt or does it even matter? (Barseven7)
A: No, it doesn’t disqualify him. But let’s see if he even needs it. He can take this as his regular redshirt year.
Q: How many receivers do we take this year? Any guess as to what the receiver board looks like? (Whitman1987)
A: I’d like them to take three, if possible, but the group of uncommitteds is getting narrowed down some. They’re definitely trying to flip Branch, and I like their chances with fellow 5-star Hykeem Williams. Then you’ve got Adam Hopkins, Anthony Evans, Shelton Sampson, Andy Jean and Tyler Williams.
Q: What are our chances with Darion Gullette? Seems like he may have been leaning to sips a little while back? (Phastman)
A: I think he still is, BUT…he’s got A&M in his final 3 and he’s going to official the weekend of the pool party. That could change a whole lot in a short period of time.
