JD PicKell: Predicting the winner of Texas A&M's quarterback competition

With Texas A&M facing a major decision on who will be starting quarterback for the 2022 season, JD PicKell weighs in with his prediction. The two front-runners for the job in College Station are last year’s starter Haynes King — who is returning from an injury that only let him start four games last season — and incoming LSU transfer Max Johnson.

Last season, when King went down with injury Zach Calzada stepped into the starting role, but he has since transferred out to Auburn and opened the door for a battle between King and Johnson.

JD PicKell thinks Max Johnson is the guy for Texas A&M

“Haynes King has probably the highest upside of the entire group,” opened PicKell. “Elite athlete, crazy tools, a lot of unknowns. Max Johnson, more of the high-floor kind of guy. And so for Jimbo Fisher, what he wants in his offense is a guy who makes good decisions, a guy who’s gonna be accurate and ultimately have an efficient offense in place.

“To me, choosing between Haynes King and Max Johnson is the choice between do you want a fast car or do you want a Volkswagen? Haynes King is the hot rod. Haynes King is going to be fast and furious and do a lot of things for you really, really well. However, are you willing to live with the mistakes that he makes? Are you willing to deal with the growing pains?”

For PicKell, the decision sounds like an easy one if your goal is to find stability for your offense. While admitting that King is an elite athlete and would likely be a great choice, the experience and dependable consistency of Johnson makes him the ideal choice to help the Aggies be a top team. Although, there’s one major caveat to PicKell’s decision — the question of how far Johnson can take Texas A&M.

“Max Johnson’s a proven commodity,” explained PicKell. “Max Johnson is not gonna be flashy, he’s not gonna show up on a bunch of billboards and he’s not gonna have people knocking down his door. But he has 27 touchdowns, six interceptions in 2021 — he’s dependable. You can go on a road trip with Max Johnson and know that car is not breaking down, he’s gonna get you from A to B. Now how high is his ceiling? Can he get A&M to the playoff, can he get A&M to a chance to win the SEC? I don’t know.

“Ultimately, if I’m Jimbo Fisher — I have to go with the known commodity. I have to go with the guy that I know will allow this team to succeed … At the very least they’re gonna be a solid team with Max Johnson. With Haynes King, he might make some really crucial mistakes down the stretch that costs you some games that you should win. I feel like more often than not — again, this is my pulse on it — I don’t think Max Johnson is going to lose you games with his decision making. He may not go out and win the game for you every time, but he’s not gonna lose a lot for you.”