Wednesday Talking Points

All of these are non-football related, but very much in the spirit of the season. As a result, I thought they needed more than a simple posting on the board.

1) This week, we say a final goodbye to one of our own: Dennis Averitt, better known to many of us as Texas90. He left too young, at just 53, but left a legacy of generosity that affected many other members of the AY family. As a result, we're renaming the AY Holiday Charity in his honor. It's now the Texas90 Holiday Charity. It's a small thing, but hopefully he will appreciate it from the better place he is now.

2) The recipient of the first Texas90 Holiday Charity is the family of Chip Probe, HouTxAg. As many of you know, his daughter Dylan is fighting bone cancer and her treatments are already underway. While we're working out the exact details and hope to have them for you in the next day or two, it should be a great way to help out a brave little lady and her family.

3) In one of the kindest acts I can remember in my life, our own Chile Pequin, has donated a pair of exotic fishing trips (one to Brazil and one to Mexico) plus half the airfare to get there for us to auction off among AY members. The Brazil deal normally goes for $5,250 and the Mexico one for $1,895, so these are both incredibly awesome (celebrities enlist him to take them all the time) and a potentially amazing deal. Part of the proceeds from this will also go to help out Dylan, but we're also going to have some put aside to help other AY families (or close friends) in need. As soon as I can figure out a good way to set up an auction system for these two things, we'll get them posted so you can take a crack at them before the holidays.

You all have been incredibly generous in the past and hopefully everyone is doing well enough to get in on these two great causes. The whole AY Team thanks you for your consideration and, of course, your readership.

I kind of hit on this on Monday, but it sure looks like A&M's early talent evaluation in this recruiting period was pretty good. A class that was criticized for being 3-star heavy a few months ago is now more than half 4- and 5-stars -- and there hasn't been any turnover, just additions.

In the latest re-evaluation by Rivals.com, A&M had one 4-star jump 66 spots to become a 5-star in QB Kellen Mond, and three new 4-stars: DT Jayden Peevy, LB Buddy Johnson and DE Tyree Johnson. I thought Mond was a little underrated before, but he had an excellent season at IMG Academy (102-182, 1,936 yards, 20 TD, 3 INT; 145 carries for 775 yards and 18 TD) against the nation's top high school defenses. His completion rate is a bit low, but his judgment on throwing the ball is tough to dispute, considering his TD to INT ratio is better than 6:1. With his speed and size, A&M won't have to change the offense much from how it's currently designed when he takes over.

The interesting thing with A&M's judgment on Peevy and Buddy Johnson is both required some projecting. Peevy, when he was offered, had only played one year of organized football and was really a raw talent. Still, the Aggies were among his first offers and they stayed on him, even when there was dispute among observers on whether he was a defensive lineman or an offensive tackle. He settled that resoundingly in 2016, dominating at Bellaire. He now looks like a steal. Buddy Johnson plays on a subpar team at Dallas Kimball and gets used in all sorts of ways, as he's the team's best and most athletic player. There wasn't much to go on at linebacker, because he's played more safety, quarterback and wideout at Kimball, but A&M projected him early as an outside linebacker and that's what he's going to be.

Tyree Johnson had the pass rushing chops from the word go, but needed to bulk up a little bit to become a more complete defensive end. He did that this year and is now at least 240 pounds, putting him in a position to compete for playing time as soon as he gets to campus this summer. Which, of course, is a good thing.

Peevy and Tyree Johnson were two guys I had hoped would get a fourth star, because I thought they were deserving. Two guys that didn't get as much love as I had hoped were Devin Morris and Myles Jones, who I think are both better than their current rankings. But, that's just my opinion. But they were also two guys A&M's staff was in on early, and at this point I think that they probably deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to 2017 evaluations.

I think A&M has six spots left. It could be as many as eight, but considering they had five scholarships left over from last year and the 25 for 2017, 30 sounds about right. To fill the 85 would take two more players, so there could be some transfer activity to boot.

Anyway, here are the players the Aggies are still in pursuit of (that I know about) now that Anthony Hines has committed:

Houston Episcopal DT Marvin Wilson

Blinn CB Kendall Sheffield (official visit this weekend)

Austin Westlake OL Stephan Zabie

Austin Westlake LB Levi Jones

Beaumont Westbrook and Oklahoma State commit OL Dan Moore (official this weekend)

Katy DT Corey Bethley

Houston Christian DT Joshua Rogers

Cisco CC DE Micheal Clemons

Baton Rouge Madison Prep DE Bryan Jones

Tempe, Ariz. DE My-King Johnson

Phoenix DE Odua Isibor

L.A. Selysian LB Rahyme Johnson

The Aggies will lose Josh Reynolds this offseason to the NFL. That hurts. They will also probably lose Ricky Seals-Jones to the NFL. Not fun. But, unlike some other positions, the Aggies have a whole lot of wideouts to choose from for next year -- some of whom have already been forgotten. And the fun begins in March.

First is Kirk Merritt, the wideout A&M craved in 2015 and lost to Oregon. He'll be eligible after transferring in and could be a guy that jumps right into the mix in the slot. Frank Iheanacho will get his shot to replace RSJ as well, even though he never really got the snaps I thought he would this year. Jamal Jeffery got a few shots this season, so the coaching staff must see something in him that they like and will probably give him a chance to expand his role too.

Those are three guys we know about. But what about Kemah Siverand, Quartney Davis, Clyde Leflore-Chriss and Kendrick Rogers? Siverand got blocked by Jeremy Tabuyo this season, but did get to play a little bit. This could be his best, and only, shot to shine. Davis tore his ACL and redshirted, but came in with high expectations. If he's healthy, he should have a chance at the two deep. Chriss is a burner and Rogers is not only tall, but can really run too. Both were raw talents, so if they've matured some physically and as receivers, they could be impact players.

Then you have the incoming freshmen with three of the four coming in early. Jhamon Ausbon could fight for Reynolds' starting spot from day one; Hezekiah Jones is fast and has looked very good in high school, so could he move in as Speedy Noil's backup (or push him for a job)? Roshauud Paul is a tremendous athletic talent, and may need a year to develop -- then again, he could be a surprise and take Jeffery's job. You've also got Camron Buckley, a sure handed big body who is being groomed as a slot, coming in for the summer.

The Aggies have a ton of options at receiver for the spring. It'll be exciting to see the competition and which guys pan out.