It's time for this week's AggieYell Mailbag, sponsored by Tres Hermanos 1850, a hunting ranch with native and exotic game, near Gatesville, Texas. Check out their website here.
Q: Taurean York - guy was a three time defensive MVP in 6A Texas ball, right? Tallied over 400 tackles...that's a lot! What was the ding on him that kept him as a 3* recruit? Is he slow or something? 6' 220# seems the right size for an SEC freshman LB. Why should we not be extremely exited about him?
A: In spite of what you may think, he’s still a little undersized. I guess they thought he was a little slow, too. But you can’t argue with the results in high school and he’s done well so far.
The Fatheree news is unfortunate, but he is our best OT and has plenty of experience. As long as he recovers, we should be fine. We might even benefit from more snaps to the others. We know Zuhn and Bisontis will be the starters until Fatheree returns and replaces one of them. Can you walk us through who the backups might be?
At the moment, the backups are Hunter Erb, Colton Thomasson, Dametrious Crownover and Aki Ogunbiyi. Erb and Ogunbiyi are on the left; Crownover and Thomasson on the right. It’s still undetermined who the backups will be.
Any idea how Shanahan is coming along? Robinson and Dewberry are obviously set as the starting OGs, but the battle for backup should be pretty stout. Call your shot: are Aki and Moko the backups or does Shanahan and/or Dirstine beat one of them out? (Eli Crow)
Unless Aki is moved full time to tackle, I think he and Moko are the backups.
1. The consistent narrative has been that Petrino will be the one calling the plays.Is he also the one who determines who the offensive starters are? i.e. is it ultimately his call or Jimbo's call for who starts at QB?
Jimbo will make the final call on that.
2. What are your top 5 comedy movies to come out post-2000? (Will_da_beast)
A: Man, I don't know. Wedding Crashers is a gimme. Then I'd go with The Hangover, Borat, Anchorman and Shaun of the Dead. In other words, comedies have sucked for 23 consecutive years.
Q: DL recruiting is not good right now. Other than Nigel Smith, are we in on any studs? Stone doesn't mention us anymore. (WOSAG)
A: They’re still in on Dominick McKinley, Zina Umeozulu and Solomon Williams. They really don’t need that much, since McKinnley Jackson is the only guy sure to leave up front.
Q: For decades the college football market has been subsidized by cable television viewers that don't consume college athletics. As the market changes, can super-conferences really demand the money that has been available thus far?
If, for whatever reason, ESPN folds or is unable to maintain their contractual agreements, could the 16-team SEC support a streaming platform that showcases conference's inventory every week? Could FOX end up with a college football monopoly? I guess my real question is, have we hit college football saturation or are there enough viewers to justify the media rights contract largesse? (submarine Ag)
A: ESPN won't fold. Its contracts with the major sports are still huge revenue streams, but it has to adapt to streaming and, like, stick to sports. Fox will not have a monopoly because they're going to be hit with streaming issues too. The networks and major sports leagues are going to have to figure out this new world of online viewership.
Q: I'm a firm believer of alternation of generation.
How big of a factor is the depth chart? Crowded DL room? Wait a year and build a reputation and then get everyone a year closer to leaving and clean up next year.I was very surprised to get Hicks last year, but he's not afraid of competition.Which rooms will benefit from the "playing time" that comes from the imagined opportunity created by players moving on and leaving openings? 2024, 2025?
A: If you're looking for the dreaded "log jam" right now, it's on the defensive line for the Aggies. Only McKinnley Jackson is definitely gone after this year, and they're stacked at tackle and end. I'm sort of surprised they got a tight end for similar reasons. The positions that have glaring needs for 2024 are linebacker, offensive tackle and wideout. And right now they have three linebacker commits with a fourth looking good, two tackles committed and a third looking good and five receivers. The only one where I'm a little surprised at a lack of interest is running back, where you're only going to have three guys back if things work they way they want.
For 2025, running back and quarterback will be big needs. You'll have to look at the D-line then because you're going to have a lot of juniors, and some of those guys can jump to the NFL. Safety will also be a need.
Leadership makes a huge difference. Max Wright came back. Ainias Smith came back. Demani Richardson came back. How big is that? (Richard23)
You don't want to just make blanket assumptions, but getting nearly all your seniors back for a fifth season is both rare and likely a big boost. But these guys aren't just leaders, they're producers too. I think it should be a huge shot in the arm.
Q: What is your o/u for ticket prices for the 2024 tsip Aggie game lower level. I'm going to start with 250. Care to guess?
A: Higher.
Jalen Preston not on the roster? Por que? (LTGrenader)
A: If I had to guess, it had to do with the other eight guys on the roster, his inconsistency and likely very little playing time.
Q: Jaylen Henderson vs. Marcel Reed. Which is the better pick up? (h273)
A: Are we talking today or in a year? Today, probably Henderson. In a year, almost certainly Reed.
Q: Interesting having subzero with the 2s. I’m thinking Jimbo and Petrino sat him down and said we want to get these three guys established at their respective positions and we want to use you to create mismatches. We’re going to move you all over the field: running back, 4th WR, motion, etc. And we’re only going to practice those plays after we kick the media out. Can you handle that?
Do you agree, or are the other three guys just better? Is this a sign of the depth of this team?
A: You're not going to get Evan Stewart off the field. Moose Muhammad had a great second half of 2022 and earned his spot. Noah Thomas was spectacular this spring. Ainias can play all the receiver positions and running back. He'll get plenty of playing time and will be used in various ways, but the other three guys are really good.
Who are the players fighting for a start that would easily start for the bottom 2/3 of SEC teams? (Eli Crow)
A: I don't know who the bottom 2/3 of the league are, but I know there are some defensive linemen, tight ends, running backs and wideouts who could play for a lot of teams who won't start for the Aggies.
Q: Was Mark Nabou missing from practice? (JIMTIP)
A: Not only was he out there, but he's gotten first team reps at both center and guard. When Jimbo said he was going to play a lot when he made his coach's night stops this spring, it looks like he wasn't kidding.
Q: Who would you root for if the Astros and Orioles met in the playoffs? (darterbury)
A: I've gotten that question a lot lately, and the answer is that I don't know. It's my nightmare scenario. The Orioles were a major part of my childhood, growing up with Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray. I named a dog after Cal, for Pete's sake. Jim Palmer follows me on Twitter. I had an amazing conversation with Earl Weaver in 2005 that I'll never forget. I met Brooks and Frank. I'm really enjoying watching guys like Adley Rutschmann and Gunnar Henderson take off, and they're loaded for a long run at the top.
But living in Round Rock in the late 90s and early 2000s allowed me to meet members of the Round Rock Express who ended up in the majors with the Astros -- Roy Oswalt, Brad Lidge, Morgan Ensberg and more. And I don't mean saying "hi"; I'd hang out with them on road trips when the Astros were in town and I was working out of state. So I got to know a lot of the Astros then and still know several now. And I've lived in Houston for 20 years. So it's tough. I love watching Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Justin Verlander and Ryan Pressley. Springer was awesome.
So it's going to be tough if they face off. It's my childhood against the present. But as long as they beat the Yankees, I'll be ok.
Q: Saw a referee in the background of one of the first practice photos. What is their role in the practices?....do they confer with the coaches (ex. "your guy is going to get called for holding is he keeps that up") or do they just blow whistles and make calls like in a game? Are they retired refs or active SEC (or other conference) refs? Privately hired by the school? (saheat)
A: These are real, and current, refs, and they make legit calls when they get into 11-on-11 situations. Some are high school refs, some are college refs who need work before the season starts. But I think they're also paid to be there.
Q: I feel really good about the top 3 WR's and Noah Thomas has played enough to show he could join that group too (if he hasn't already). Who do you see as two most likely guys to be in the rotation other than those 4 and what are their strengths? (TaxMan90)
A: I think Thomas is already there, making it a Big 4. So that brings the competition down to Micah Tease, Raymond Cottrell, Jahdae Walker and Jordan Anthony. Anthony and Tease have one big asset: tremendous speed. They're elite. Walker brings size and experience and Cottrell brings size and a physical game (and he's no slowpoke. None of them are). It's going to be a heck of a competition.
Q: I took a stab below at ranking the incoming transfers by 2023 predicted impact, whatever "impact" means.
How would you rank them?1. CB Tony Grimes (North Carolina) 2. LB JD Davis (Jackson State) 3. CB Josh DeBerry (Boston College) 4. CB Sam McCall (Florida State) 5. WR Jahdae Walker (Grand Valley State) 6. WR Jordan Anthony (Kentucky) 7. FB Jerry Johnson III (Rice) 8. RB David Bailey (Colorado State) 9. OL Finn Dirstine (Boston College) 10. QB Jaylen Henderson (Fresno State) (Phastman)
A: I think I would switch 3 and 4. Then, I'd move Johnson down to 9 and bump Bailey and Dirstine up one each. And I may have Dirstine too low, depending on how things go.
Q: What effect has Petrino had on our recruiting?
Was the Mass QB Miles O'Neil one of his finds? His rankings jumped on other sites. Do you see his ranking also going up on Rivals? (Have Gun Will Travel)
A: Petrino is the reason AJ Maddox is an Aggie. He's also the reason Jaylen Henderson is an Aggie. He played a big role in Miles O'Neill's recruitment and his plans for the offense have definitely appealed to some wideouts.
As for O'Neill's ranking, I think it should go up significantly next time there's a rankings update. But we had one fairly recently, so it may be another month or two before we have another.
Q: Has A&M instituted training or seminars to the athletes on gambling? This Iowa debacle has me scared since 18-22 year olds all think they are bullet-proof and smarter than everyone else.
A: I'm sure they'll have some discussion on it, but I'm also sure they're not going to come out and say so unless we ask (which I might on Sunday).
Also, does Jimbo look pretty damn smart leaving FSU for us? I just remember all the talking heads asking why would he do that? (tsmith3001)
A: He looks smart because he's getting $9.5 million a year and everything he wants. But he doesn't look as smart as he did after the Orange Bowl. Mike Norvell has done good work at FSU and Jimbo needs a big season to reiterate that yes, he made the right move and went to the better place.
Q: What’s the status of the indoor facility. Seems like they’re going to need to do some days in there out of the heat. That kind of heat index that we’ve had this week can be dangerous. (Eli Crow)
A: They should be in it tomorrow. We had a member of the media fade out after practice today (they were fine, and I'm not saying who), so we'll be very happy to get in there too.
