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Q: What (other than him being a longtime A&M commit obviously) caused Kiotti Armstrong to plummet in Rivals' final rankings? (Phastman)

A: I have absolutely no idea. All I can say is that I’m more excited to see him on the practice field than any tight end prospect in a long time.

Q: Why can’t we get top Basketball recruits? Love Buzz but damn we need studs and not JAGs (Just A Guy) (BVOSUX)

A: I’m not sure Wade Taylor, Zhuric Phelps and Pharrel Payne are JAGs. All three of their signees for 2025 are Rivals 150 guys, and when you consider the level of competition in basketball recruiting, that’s no mean feat. But trust me when I say you don’t want to know the ins and outs of college basketball recruiting. You think football is dirty? Basketball is 10 times worse.

Q: How many potential NBA players do we have on the current roster?

A: Payne, Phelps (maybe), Taylor (less optimistic) and, should he improve his scoring next season, Solomon Washington. He is a defensive freak, he just needs to improve his offensive game.

Why do we struggle with recruiting shooters? (Spar2cus)

A: If I knew that, they wouldn’t be having those problems.

Q: We've had a rough go at it with Wade out, but have some upcoming games we should win.

I still think we can finish a few games over .500 and get a 4-5 seed.

I know it's early, but can you see a path to winning more than we lose from here on out? (Richard23)

A: Sure. It helps if they get Taylor back soon, of course, but LSU and OU at home are very winnable games. A&M already beat Texas by 20, so that should be in their favor when they go to Austin. South Carolina and Missouri are two of the lesser teams in the conference, Georgia isn’t all that and Arkansas is…really bad. Georgia and Arkansas, by the way, are at home. So that gets you to nine conference wins right there. They play Vandy at home and LSU on the road to close out, so yeah, I can see them getting to 11 wins without Taylor. If he comes back soon, then they can do better than that.

Q: Can you power rank the most important uncommitted recruits in the 2026 recruiting cycle? Obviously it will be subject to change but I'd love to hear your top 3-4.

A: Well, you gotta look at what they have already and where the needs are. That makes me look immediately to the offensive and defensive lines.

So, for me, the top four guys are Jackson Cantrell, Immanuel Iheancho, Lamar Brown (who could play DT) and Felix Ojo. I’m looking for the big guys right now.

This might be answered in my last question but what position groups will be the biggest need? (ChampKindKHOU11)

A: I think it is. Offensive line, defensive line and secondary. The deal with the secondary is pretty simple: you have a number of guys who are either graduating in 2025 or will be seniors in 2026. It’s time to replenish.

Q: what is the story with McDermott? is there any upside with him as an option to get something more off of the bench? Promising but sitting behind Washington/Garcia? Know absolutely nothing about him except for a few minutes against HBC (or whatever Houston cupcake school we played) but wondering about potential.

A: He’s a true freshman at a position stocked with upperclassmen. He’s still pretty raw and I don’t know who you take time away from to put him on the court.

Speaking of no production - Carter and Wilcher can provide A&M with 10 fouls if we have to resort to goonery but not much else. Carter hasn't shown anything since he suited up, thought Wilcher was a sniper from the 3pt line but has been MIA all year? Wrong offense for him and the focus on D is more than he can provide? Are we out of options to augment starters? Seems we are falling short against the good teams as Mizzou and Ole Miss had no problems going into UF and bama and beating them. (Rooster77)

A: Wilcher has not been MIA all year. He’s hitting 37% of his threes, which is easily the highest percentage on the team. Only Phelps and Taylor have made more than he has. But he’s limited in that about all he can do is shoot from the perimeter.

As for augmenting the starters — if they had someone else they thought could help, they wouldn’t be killing time on the bench.

Q: Is it possible to do Aggies in the NBA as you have done with Aggies in the NFL? (Aggdoc)

A: It would be pretty short. The reason Aggies in the NFL works is because they play mostly on Sundays, which makes it good for the Weekend Wrap, and they only play once a week. The NBA is obviously different.

Q: A follow-up to my question from last week: what's the main issue with the D-Line this past season? Was it experience? Fundamentals? Scheme? Talent?

A: It wasn’t talent or experience. It was fundamentals and scheme.

Part 2: Who is responsible for fixing it? TJE, Bateman, or Elko? (3rd Gen Ag)

A: You’re forgetting Sean Spencer, who was responsible for the most disappointing group — the defensive ends. All four of them should be involved in it.

Q: It seems we were lacking a true NG last season, that really big guy in the middle that is really hard to move, and I don’t see anyone on the roster who can fill that role coming into 2025. We also seem to be very thin at DT. The sips seemed to pull in some quality DT in the portal last year, and I see they already have a couple big transfer tackles (including Shaw, a 6’5” 330 lb former 5 star) committed. As thin as we are with D tackles generally, why do think we’re having hard time attracting these types of guys? (Thepassag)

A: Looking back at Elko’s defenses, he likes his nose guards to be between 310 and 320 pounds, if that. He’s looking as much for quickness as he is for guys to bulk up the middle, which is why they’re not going after those kinds of players you mentioned. That’s why I don’t think you’ll see DJ Sanders get much bigger than he is right now at 315, and Chase Sims may top out at around 300.

Q: Does Marcel Reed have trouble gaining weight? He has been at A&M 2 years and still weighs 180. Can he handle the punishment of the SEC for a full season? (Ag20)

A: Let’s look at this argument about punishment in the SEC. Johnny Manziel was tiny for an SEC quarterback and didn’t skip a beat in 2012. He finally got hurt by a cheap shot midseason in 2013 and suffered several injuries after that, but still played. Conner Weigman, who was around the prototype size for an SEC quarterback, got battered repeatedly and missed a lot of time. Same for Haynes King and Max Johnson. There’s no telling what is going to get a quarterback, but having a good offensive line makes a difference. Hopefully A&M will have that next year.

Q: What about Wade Taylor- he's missed 3 games now- seems pretty spry on the sidelines-(I know that's not the same as playing). Are we close to having him back? (Lubag)

A: I can’t tell you, because Buzz never, ever talks about injuries. He told us before the season even began not even bother asking.

Q: Does anybody in the SEC play a 3-4 defense these days? Seems as though it might be an option if you are short on true DL guys and have a lot of tweeners.

A: Nobody plays a 3-4 anymore. If you want to, you can, but I’ll eat you alive with a spread offense.

If we're running a 4-2-5 because we're trying to control passing offenses, it doesn't seem to be working. Any insights on why we are sticking with the 4-2-5 as our base defense, or is it just that Elko always runs it? (Rick77)

A: That is his base defense, and it has been very effective in the past. I’d like to see it schemed better and have better personnel fits, but I don’t know if that’ll happen.

Q: Is this a true statement?: The defense will be ranked higher at the end of next season than it was last season. (Maroon Mudbug)

A: True.

Q: Kaydon Finley, what are our chances? That would be a dagger to their heart IMO. (H273)

A: Considering who his dad is (Jermichael Finley), I would say about zero.