RB: Who follows Tray Williams?
When Kevin Sumlin was fired in November, it looked like Texas A&M would go into the 2018 season with four scholarship running backs. That wasn't enough for Jimbo Fisher, who now has seven scholarship backs on the roster. The big question: who plays after star junior Trayveon Williams?
Backs available this spring (with 2017 stats)
Junior Trayveon Williams (173 carries for 798 yards and 6 TD)
Redshirt junior Kendall Bussey (47 carries for 239 yards and 1 TD)
Sophomore Jacob Kibodi (11 carries, 121 yards, 1 TD)
While Williams didn't come close to his stellar freshman numbers, he was still excellent behind a bad offensive line in 2017 and should be a preseason All-SEC candidate. For Bussey and Kibodi, this spring is critical. There are backs coming in with similar skill sets that were recruited by Fisher, so their margin for error isn't much.
Bussey has proven he's a true speed threat, but he's had problems in pass blocking and has put the ball on the ground. Kibodi looks like the kind of big back Fisher prefers, but he has limited experience and coughed up the ball in his only carry in the bowl game. Those errors have to be eliminated to impress the new staff.
On the way this summer
Jashaun Corbin: 5'11", 195; 107 carries, 1,022 yards and 11 TD rushing; 25 catches for 619 yards and 6 TD receiving at Rockledge (Fla.) High School. 4-star, ranked #179 on the Rivals 250.
Vernon Jackson: 6'3", 240; rushed for 2,560 yards and 33 TD at Boling High School. 3-star ATH according to Rivals.
Charles Strong: 6'1", 220; 186 carries, 1,388 yards and 15 TD at Union County (Fla.) High School. 3-star RB according to Rivals.
Deneric Prince: 6'1" 200; 105 carries for 861 yards and 10 TD at Manvel High School. 3-star RB according to Rivals.
The Aggies have some dash and some bash in their incoming class of running back, highlighted by the speedy Corbin, who was committed to FSU at one point but followed Fisher to Texas. Jackson could play multiple positions but the Aggies landed him by promising him a shot at running back; he becomes the biggest back the Aggies have had since Jorvorskie Lane. Strong projects as a fullback, but has proven he can handle he load if needed. Prince is a tweener, who could get bigger but was very productive as more of a speedster at Manvel.
Looking ahead to 2019
Targets:
Isaiah Spiller, Klein Collins
Trey Sanders, IMG Academy
Deondrick Glass, Katy
King Doerue, Amarillo Tascosa
Mark-Antony Richards, Palm Beach (Fla.) Wellington
A&M is after a couple of other guys, but they're even longer shots than some of the guys on this list (Sanders and Richards especially). The Aggies can afford to be fairly selective in this class after taking so many backs in 2018, but they certainly want to get at least one. Spiller and Doerue may be the most likely possibilities on this list, even though Spiller is committed to Oklahoma.