AggieYell Mailbag, sponsored by Tipton Auto Group
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Q: What’s the word on Samu T? I know he has great size and is young. Is he going to be a player? Any feedback from sources or coaches on his development and ability to contribute? (Gschorp)
A: He’s big. Not as big as he was last year, but he’s big. If the season were to start today, I think he’d be in the two-deep. But A&M is actively trying to add more experienced defensive tackles, which I’m taking as a sign that 1) they think they need more bodies and 2) they’re not sold on their younger talent.
Q: Trey Zuhn is the only untouchable. Team Captain.
I get it that he is our best lineman. (my assumption)
How good is he in comparison to our SEC left OT’s? (Richard23)
A: The way the numbers have shaken out and with the only transfer left tackle brought in having jumped back into the portal, the coaching staff clearly believes in him. How he ranks in comparison to other SEC left tackles is hard to say, because we’ve only seen the Steve Addazio version. I expect that the Adam Cushing version — and also a fully healthy version — could be pretty darned good.
Q: Can you list the true freshmen we have participating in spring practice, and tell us if any of them are challenging for PT? (H273)
A: DE Solomon Williams — yes
DE Kendall Jackson — not sure
WR Izaiah Williams — Has been banged up; TBD
OL Ashton Funk — no
OL Blake Ivy — no (and may not even be around after this week)
LB Tristan Jernigan — TBD
LB Jordan Lockhart — TBD
S Myles Davis — no
S Jordan Pride — no
To be clear, Davis and Pride are just caught up with a lot of numbers at safety. They’re very much the future at the position.
Q: So we're tight on scholarship spots (88, correct?) and need to eliminate some but we also need more depth on OL, DT, WR, and possibly LB. At what positions is there fat to trim? It seems like reporting has all the other spots as just about right. (3rd Gen Ag)
A: There’s not much fat to be trimmed. It’s going to come down to whether guys think they’re buried on a depth chart or aren’t comfortable where they are. But I think this could work itself out, as we’ve already seen players hit the portal. I think we will have more shortly.
Q: Any guesses on who the outs are? (Maroon Mudbug)
A: Outside of the guys who I’ve mentioned as not being on the Maroon & White Rosters, no. And I wouldn’t say if I did know, because that’s just not a good way to do business. I’ll let them say it themselves.
Q: Thoughts on where we stand with transfers we’ve offered? (BVOSUX)
A: I think they’re going to land several pretty quickly. They have three guys at the top of their list — WR Keandre Lambert Smith, LB Solomon DeShields and OL Kolinu’u Faaiu — coming in this weekend, with several other guys setting up visits with in the next week to 10 days. They have established where they need to strengthen their personnel groups and are aggressively moving to do so.
Q: I watched this weeks press conference and heard the players responses to the portal players coming and going and its effects on the locker room and team. Do you have any idea of how the overall feelings of the players have about the portal?
A: I think it varies from player to player. Some would likely see it as a disruption to the locker room; others could see it as an opportunity get more NIL money. Still others could see it as a way to get to an new opportunity.
Do you get the feeling they would like to see some portal changes? I think fans and coaches would like to see improvements in the portal process. Your portal tracker is helpful but I’m sure it’s a lot of work to keep up with. Thanks again for keeping us updated. (Spar2cus)
A: I think everyone wants to see some changes, including players. But the NCAA is so spineless and confounded right now that I don’t know what changes they’d even try to implement at this point, besides moving some dates around.
Q: What are your thoughts on where TCU DL Damonic Williams might land, if he indeed does enter the transfer portal as reported? Supposedly Williams is gong to OU's spring game this weekend. (Davidimy)
A: A&M has an interest, but I think they’ve got a greater interest in older defensive linemen. And I don’t think he’s got a whole lot of interest in A&M, honestly.
Q: Injuries seem to be a problem.
Which players (like Green, White, Dindy, Silla, etc) you have high confidence will be ready to go for ND? Which ones are possibly out at that time?
A: Let’s see what the future holds for Sylla. As for the rest, I think they’ll all be ready barring setbacks.
The sips baseball team is a dumpster fire, basically run-rulled by a very bad UTRGV. Lots of their fans want CDC to make a move on Schloss, and money whip him to get him. Your thoughts? (Have Gun Will Travel)
A: I think that’s absolutely precious. Maybe the tooth fairy will bring them some money for the signing bonus.
Q: You mentioned in your Portal Update that “ They (A&M) may also offer SFA DT Brandon Lane, who had a great season for the Lumberjacks (and they're ok).”
I agree that SFA, Lane and the rest of the Lumberjacks were okay last year. But are you concerned about Lane’s sleep regimen? Can you clarify when he sleeps, when he works, and whether he can skip and jump well enough to make it in SEC. (JasonJThompson)
A: Sources have confirmed to AggieYell.com that he sleeps all night and he works all day.
Q: When does the portal close?
A: End of the month.
If we pick up any of the guys we are pursuing, then that pretty much means a current player has to leave, correct? (QuickDrawMcGraw77)
A: Pretty much. I mean, they could take it all the way until the start of the season to get to 85, but I doubt they would.
Q: Has Donovan Green participated in full drills?
A: Nope. He’s still rehabbing his knee.
What do you think about the transfer TE's? Sounds like we have some talent there. (Richard23)
A: I like them. Tre Watson, especially, has impressed me. He’s got size and can move. Garrett Miller is a big dude who can block, but he can also get out and catch the ball. Both look like really good additions.
Q: It seems we might need a few more scholarships to open up to shop in the portal. Does the coaching staff go to a few guys and strongly suggest they consider other options, or are they simply told their scholarship will not be renewed in the fall and there's the door? (ThePassAg)
A: I doubt they’d do the latter, but I know some teams have done the former. I was stunned when former Ohio State QB Kyle McCord said the Buckeyes coaching staff told him to get into the portal after last season. That’s brutal. But I guess that’s how things work.
Q: You have written that we should be very active in the Portal for a few positions like WR, DT, etc. Realistically though, anyone we bring in this spring is not really going to challenge for a starter or back up position right, except if a significant number of injuries occur to that group?
A: Wrong. They’re looking for starters right now.
Sounds like the guys we have transferring out found themselves outside of a starting position and are transferring to find playing time. Doesn't this hold true for anyone entering the portal from other teams that we may be looking at? In other words, we best get used to the fact that what we got right now (outside of freshmen reporting this summer) is who we are riding with this fall? Thanks for all you do Mark! (Klloyd11)
A: Nope, I really don’t think so. They’re pursuing players that major programs nationwide are after, and those fellas aren’t interested in sitting on the bench. You’re going to see some more turnover, and I think it’s going to come fast.
Q: The OL was such a disaster the last two years. Reading between the lines on Fridays and Mondays, I felt like you really thought we'd go get a different OL coach to replace Addazzio after his first year here. Instead, Jimbo stuck with Addazzio another year with similar/worse results. Jimbo's stubbornness in general cost him his job. But if he had hired an "average-for-the-SEC" OL coach after the first year of Addazzio, do you think Jimbo would still be the coach here? Was the product on the field that Addazzio created the biggest concrete reason that we fired Jimbo? (Boone8466)
A: Addazio was a major reason Jimbo was fired. But his refusal to alter the offense, his disdain for the transfer portal and his lack of control of the program were all catching up to him. So I can’t honestly say that, had he canned Addazio or never hired, that he wouldn’t have gotten fired himself. But A&M probably would have won more games if he had hired another line coach.