The only Duke commit that Mike Elko actively recruited after taking over at Texas A&M was Collierville (Tenn.) offensive lineman Robert Bourdon. That pursuit officially became a success Wednesday when Bourdon signed with the Aggies.
The 6-foot-6, 295-pound Bourdon had been a Duke commit for more than six months when Elko made the decision to leave Durham and come back to College Station. When offensive line coach Adam Cushing decided to follow Elko, Bourdon quickly shifted his interest to the Aggies. After an official visit in mid-January, Bourdon flipped his commitment from Duke to A&M, passing up offers from the likes of Ole Miss, Tulane, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Stanford and many others.
Analysis of A&M's newest signee
Bourdon has prototype left tackle size at 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, but his quickness is pretty impressive. He gets off the ball fast and can serve as a lead blocker on counter plays, where he comes across the line of scrimmage. Then again, he does play lacrosse as well, so maybe it's not a surprise he can move a little bit.
And he's mean. You can see several instances where he plants the guy across from him. He's got solid footwork and, again, you can see he moves well laterally (lacrosse, anyone?). I like that a smaller, faster defensive end tried to set him up with an outside-in move and Bourdon not only stopped it, he shoved the poor guy all the way to the right hashmark. Ouch.
Technically, Bourdon's got some work to do. He needs to improve on his punch and stay low off the snap. If he would hit these guys in the center of their mass, he'd knock them into next week. But he's got outstanding speed and footwork for his size and he's clearly strong enough. He just needs to work on technique and he could be a guy in the mix for some SEC work in 2025.
