AggieYell Mailbag
Here’s the latest AY Mailbag, sponsored by Tipton Auto Group:
Q: I am so tired of the talk about our weak SEC schedule. The start of the season people said that ND, LSU, MO, SC, FL and TX were all ranked ahead of us and the national people picked us in the bottom half of the SEC. We go 11-1 and several of those teams didn’t meet expectations isn’t our issue. Why nobody talks about where these teams were ranked when we kicked their *** is very frustrating. Just your thoughts on this? (Austin 3006)
A: You play the schedule provided, and I think these people whining about A&M’s “easy” schedule were cackling about how tough it was when the season started. Texas was 1, Notre Dame was 6, LSU 9, South Carolina 13, Florida 15. They went on the road and beat Notre Dame, which is on the cusp of the CFP; they beat LSU, who was ranked 20th, on the road; and they beat South Carolina and Florida — all teams ranked ahead of them in the preseason! And they beat Missouri, who was ranked when A&M played them. It seems to me that, in some cases (Florida, Mizzou and LSU in particular), the Aggies played a major part in their respective downfalls! So critics can shut the heck up.
Q: There was a lot of Kiffin talk when our job was open in 2023. Did he (via his agent) inquire about the job, and we said “Thanks but no thanks”, or was it just internet message board speculation? (Phastman)
A: From what I’m told, he inquired and received no response whatsoever. Even if they had gotten rid of Jimbo, Kiffin’s comments about Texas A&M did not sit well with the people involved in the hiring process.
Q: Which players on our current roster do you believe will be on an NFL 53-man roster next year?
And maybe…which might have a chance at landing on a practice squad? (Bear_P_I)
A: That’s a toughie. But I’ll take a stab at it.
KC Concepcion and Cashius Howell are locks for an NFL roster. Le’Veon Moss should be, but he’s going to get knocked for his injury history. Trey Zuhn, Chase Bisontis (should he leave), Ar’maj Reed-Adams and Dametrious Crownover all should be. Tyler Onyedim and Albert Regis should be. Honestly, Nate Boerkircher should be too.
More borderline players include Dayon Hayes, Amari Daniels, EJ Smith, Scooby Williams, Tyreek Chappell and Will Lee.
Q: If Alabama wins, how does the bracket shake out?
Same question if Georgia wins.
A: Aggies definitely want Georgia to win, because they’d likely move up to 2 and A&M would probably stay at 7 and host and maybe even move to 6. If Alabama wins, then there’s a chance A&M falls to 9 and goes on the road.
Q: Was the game environment just too much for this team last Friday night? Team just seemed affected by it especially in second half. (RacerRod)
A: No, I think that they had two really bad possessions to start the second half, started to press and things spiraled. They’ve been in tougher environments before.
Q: I know you won’t talk about specific players, but can you talk about position groups where we are likely to lose players to the portal? (Maddog83)
A: It’s possible that you see attrition at quarterback, wide receiver, defensive line, linebacker (we haven’t been mentioning one name lately for a reason) and maybe corner. I don’t think they’ll lose 20 guys to the portal or anything like that, but you could see some decent movement.
Q: Earlier in the season Elko had a question about controlling when the team peaks. Did the team peak too soon? Do the stats from the season bear out whether the team peaked early? (Umpocket)
A: I don’t necessarily know if they peaked too early, but they got away from some of the things that made them so effective during the middle third of the season. They have to get back to playing the brand of football that got them there.
Q: what’s the schedule now with the player’s? When do they get time with Moffitt? (CypressAggie)
A: They probably had this week off, but weight training will restart in earnest starting Monday and they’ll be in there every day.
Q: Is there a viable path for E-Rob to return to A&M?
A: Not that I see at this point.
If so, would Elko want him?
Depends on what role he wants. He’s not going to come back here as the DC and there’s already very capable defensive line coaches.
Would you, personally & professionally, want him? (SGMan)
I absolutely would if they could make it work. And I don’t see how they could do that at this point.
Q: RB focus with CKs offensive scheme – if we do not have a bruiser coming in through recruiting is this a must-have in portal? Is Riden considered a bruiser? Saw so little of him have no idea.
A: I think they would look through the portal. Rueben Owens could be a power back, but hasn’t shown that yet. You didn’t see much of Tiger Riden because he was seriously injured in the offseason and he wasn’t ready to play until late in the year. He could be a power back, and he has the frame for it, but we don’t know for sure.
We seem to be fine with scat backs but never run off tackle or seldom run wheel routes (Morrow is good at this) or screens/dump plays when teams crowd the line and pressure Reed? Baffling when every other team has this in their playbook and outside of Moss and Smith, we only have scat backs. Mprrow is tiny and cannot move the pile while Owens is routinely arm- or turf-tackled. Not a winning formula for next year when the prospects of our OL dominating at least 50% of the game as they did this year is reality.
To the contrary, A&M ran a lot of wheel routes this year, just mostly with the receivers and tight ends. Screens, not so much.
Question 2 for this year: Seems Reed is jittery and most higher quality teams will stack the box and come after him. do we have plays available to make them pay? Used to audible to slip screens but that was few and far between Friday. Also 3rd and 2 and we go bombs away? is this really on page 1 of CKs playbook? Do you think Elko has a few words with CK and tells him to stay true to who they are and not pass 99.9% of the time or did we realize our veteran group of OL could not move the pile? Seems we did not stay true to who they were. (Rooster77)
I don’t think they did stay true to who they were. Part of that was Texas, and part of that was…I really don’t know. There was a lot of criticism of Klein yesterday when the idea of him going back to K-State was floated, saying he was hit or miss on his play calls. Until the Texas game, the only play call he ran that I hated was that trick play on the South Carolina 2 or whatever it was. That was too clever by half. I really didn’t like the calls against Texas.
Q: Do you think our less experienced OL next year can reduce the number of false starts as compared to this year? (QuickDrawMcGraw77)
A: To be honest with you, I don’t think some of the starters for next year on campus right now. They’ll come from the portal, and that could negate much of the “less experienced” part of your question.
Q: How many DTs do you think A&M needs to get from the portal? (Ag20)
A: At least one. The lack of experience makes me a little nervous.
Q: I see a number of teams where the QB really reads whether to hand off or to run (or to pass). If Reed really running that kind of offense or are most of his plays simply hand the ball off. Seems he had open space to run quite a bit but he handed off as if designed run (who often got little or nothing). Just wondering if that is just plays called or Reed is not reading it to run more. (DentonAg80)
A: I think he’s not reading it to run more.
Q: Do you see us potentially moving to #6? And which 2 teams do you most likely see us facing round 1? (SteveAllen)
A: It’s possible, though I don’t consider it likely. I think they stay at 7 and the two most likely teams they play (at this point) are Alabama and Notre Dame.
Q: Who do you think is the front runner for the Aggie Heart award? (H273)
A: My two candidates would be Albert Regis and Amari Daniels, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Trey Zuhn is in there too.
Q: Will you please punch the person who added the pop up ads? (TGun97)
A: I think the line for that job is long and distinguished.
Q: What does a road win at Pitt tell us?
Any road win is good against an ACC team. But, how does this translate against a SEC schedule? (Richard23)
A: It’s not just the win at Pitt; it’s also the blowout of FSU at a neutral site that should grab people’s attention. Unfortunately, FSU got smoked Tuesday night by Georgia like they were a pack of Kools. Pitt is also one of the bottom teams in the ACC (or so it would appear), but it’s still a Power 5 road win where they showed the ability to overcome adversity.
Here’s where I think it translates — on defense. A&M has had its two best defensive performances of the year in the games against FSU and Pitt, which may mean they’re starting to really put things on that end in place. The offense is going to be there — 81 points against Pitt was considered a slog; last year, 81 points would be a reason for celebration. They went 11 games in a row last year during conference play without scoring more than 75 points. A&M has been below 75 twice this year and they lost both games.
Anyway, I think A&M’s going to be able to score a lot in conference, but that does no good if you can’t defend. The last couple of games give me hope that they can.
Q: Why do bad things (losing to tu again) happen to good people (Aggies)? (Shanehammett12)
A: Buddy, if I could figure that one out I would make sure it doesn’t happen. With that and all the other things that have gone wrong for me this year, I kind of wonder if I’m cursed by God or something.
Q: Why should any P4 conference team want to schedule Notre Dame in the future (force them into a conference)? We have seen traditional rivalries go by the wayside when it comes to bettering themselves / conference, so that shouldn’t be a factor. (Aggie92’)
A: Considering how the CFP committee is counting big non-conference wins, I don’t see why a P4 team should play Notre Dame. It apparently means nothing if you win but hurts you if you lose. With the SEC going to nine games next year, why would you trouble yourself with that?
Q: Do you expect any key players to transfer? If so, who! I would hate to see a guy like bussey walk but i wouldn’t doubt if he’s done. (Miguelortizglz)
A: I see you’re kind of new here and this is your first question, so thank you, welcome aboard and please feel free to join the mailbag anytime. But I have a rule that I don’t name names when it comes to potential transfers because I don’t want to start inaccurate rumors or betray sources. Now, having said that, I don’t think Mr. Bussey is going anywhere. He’s already a big weapon as a kick returner, and next year he’ll be the punt returner too. He should also get more time as a wideout. I do expect we’ll see some wide receiver attrition due to sheer numbers, as well as at quarterback for the same reason. There are guys on the defensive line and in the secondary who haven’t played that are running out of time to show what they can do and will probably move on. And there’s always a surprise. Last year, I predicted each of the players who would transfer out (of course, I can’t prove that because I don’t say online) — and then Noah Thomas happened. That I did not see coming.
Q: 1) Klein seems to have a deep-seated need to run gimmicky, low percentage plays at critical times, especially when we are driving for a TD. Does that fit with what Elko has told us he prefers?
A: Elko largely stays hands off with the offense. I can’t say I like everything Klein has called and he does have a few plays that are baffling, but I definitely think he has improved as a play caller year-over-year.
2) Reed seemed to have read his press clippings too much, especially in the second half of the season. He has also thrown at least three interceptions in the end zone, again mostly in the second half of the season. Are there any indications that the coaches are working with him on these concerns, or do they not consider them to be concerns? (Rick77)
Ok, for one thing, I would dispute the idea Reed’s been reading his press clippings. The Aggies aren’t 11-1 without him, and he played really well when the chips were down (except at Texas). I’m sure they’ve been going over things this week and in the week to come to eliminate those mistakes. The guy is going to throw for 3,000 yards and already has 25 touchdown passes, but there’s still room for improvement. That’s a great proposition if you’re an Aggie.
Q: Can you explain why Tech is getting no grief nationally for the worst of the losses for one loss teams? (brAG)
A: I can think of two possibilities: 1) they’re not knocking them for losing because they were playing their backup quarterback or 2) there is absolutely no logical process behind what the CFP committee is doing.
Q: With signing day over I’m curious if you would share the names of:
- A recruit you thought we’d sign but didn’t.
A: Wasn’t one. This was pretty much chalk, no surprises positive or negative.
2. A recruit you really hoped we’d sign but didn’t.
I guess Bralan Womack. I knew there wasn’t much of a chance, but I thought he might be a plug and play at nickel.
3. A recruit you are surprised (in a good way) we signed.
I wasn’t surprised by anyone, but Carsyn Baker going from off the board to Aggie signee in 72 hours is most impressive.
4. The recruit we signed who you are most excited about. (Aggiewoo)
Oh, this is a toughie. There are four guys I’ve really been on the bandwagon for, and three are obvious: Bryce Perry-Wright, KJ Edwards, and Brandon Arrington. The fourth was overlooked for a long time, and that’s Jayden Warren. For most of the cycle, Arrington was the one I was most excited about, but in recent days I’ve been leaning towards Edwards. I think he may be a big factor next year.
Q: What do you expect us to do at WR this year in the portal, I feel like we have a lot of talent we know of (Craver, ABR, Bussey) and some unproven guys (Myles, Williams, Norman) but we are losing KC. Do you think we trust the guys we have in our room already or try to make a splash in the portal?
A: I trust them; I like the room as-is. But I think they’re going to go out there and try to get the best wide receiver in the portal to recreate the magic they had with KC, Craver and ABR. But I do think they have the opportunity to be deeper than a four-man rotation next season. They’ve going to have plenty of talent with varying skill sets.
Have you heard of any names for the OC vacancy, if not names do you at least have an idea of whether we will promote from within or look elsewhere? (TahtayR24)
I haven’t heard any names yet beyond speculation that Holmon Wiggins may be promoted. But Klein hasn’t even taken the job yet (officially), so it may be a little while before they make a move unless they’re totally sold on Wiggins. Mike Elko doesn’t strike me as someone who makes a move without doing significant due diligence.
Q: What happened to the two highly rated Interior offensive linemen we were in on both of them? One from. Port Arthur and the other was from north Texas. Haven’t heard either one mentioned today. (4cag)
A: I’m not sure who exactly you mean. John Turntine III signed with Texas, and Zaden Krempin signed with the Aggies, and those are the two from North Texas that I can think of in the class of 2026.
Q: The quality of this class of recruits is outstanding. Between the defensive backs and the wide receivers, which position group do you see emerging as the strongest over the next couple of seasons and having a big impact on the field? (Mrklndrm)
A: Man, that’s really tough. Here’s my view on it: the corners may be better longterm, but they probably won’t see a lot of time in 2026 and maybe not even 2027. The receivers, on the other hand, might. The current “Big 3” for A&M doesn’t have a guy over 6 foot (the Big 3 being Mario Craver, ABR and Bussey). They’re not only going to want size, they’ll need it. They have three guys with both height and speed. — four if you want to count Jerome Myles — and they could be used this season.
Q: looking at the team recruiting it lists how much NIL each team averages. we are very low, in fact, the lowest of the top 11. are those numbers accurate?
A: I think they’re speculative.
will they increase on our side?
Yes. They have more to work with this year.
does it negatively affect us if recruits see that type of number compared to others? (Gowsie)
Potentially, but they can make the argument they were getting a lot for a little, so what can they do now that they have the money to go after the truly elite players? And they’ll mention repeatedly that they have more to spend this time around.
Q: We just signed 26 HS players and I like that it was relatively drama free. How much room do we have for portal additions with the players that are out of eligibility on our roster?
I know we will have portal attrition, but we cannot speculate that. (Parlay Magic)
A: Right now, they’re at 85 scholarships. So, unless people leave, they’re done, right?
Probably not.
The SEC kept their scholarship limits at 85 this year while other teams started going to 105 — but the SEC also said that they would revisit that after the House v. NCAA settlement was completed. It is now, and I think they’ll boost scholarship levels to 105 for 2026. So that means the Aggies may have up to 20 spots, and I’m sure SEC teams are calling Birmingham to tell them to hurry up and make up their bleeping minds.
Q: Is a Trump hand-picked playoff the only way Texas gets in?
A: No, a Steve Sarkisian-picked playoff would get them in too.
What would be your presidential hand picked bracket? (Jmackle)
Lord, I don’t even know. I would hope that, if I were POTUS, I would be dealing with more serious issues than meddling with the CFP.
Q: Based on who we signed and our depth chart, how many do we lose to the portal? And, how many do you think we will bring through the portal? You don’t have to name names. (Aggdoc)
A: I can think of about 10 guys I wouldn’t be shocked if they left. So, again, depending on roster limits, it could be as high as 30 new players brought in (though that sounds high).
Q: With NSD wrapping up the 2026 class and Christmas coming in a few weeks, which five or so recruits from the Class of 2027 is on your Texas A&M recruiting class wish list?
A: Let’s see here:
John Meredith, CB, Arlington Trinity (the #1 player in the nation)
Kennedy Brown, OL, Kingwood (#4)
Albert Simien, OL, Lake Charles Sam Houston
Cooper Witten, LB, Argyle Liberty Christian
Kaeden Scott, OL, San Antonio Roosevelt
Also, do you think Penn St. was on the naughty list this year? Football Santa doesn’t seem to want to give them anything but coal for their head coach. (RoosterTAMU)
Penn State has been on the naughty list for decades, and I’m enjoying their struggles. My daddy always said he never met anyone from Penn State worth a crap, and my experience makes me think they’re the Mid-Atlantic Texas. (The university, not the state)
Q: Are we getting the highest and best return by Klein remaining as OC when he has taken another job, the divided time commitments, focus, – no matter what, his time will be limited and focus divided – is this the best path going forward thru the CFP? (BC93)
A: I think so. He knows this team and his personnel better than anyone, so I’d like him to still have the keys to vehicle. He’s going to K-State, not someplace like Auburn, where there’s a clear and obvious conflict of interest (LANE).
Q: Maybe I missed it, that job thing gets in the way, but did we pick up another running back? I didn’t see one on the commitment list. (SYoungblood)
A: Yes, Carsyn Baker, who was a Florida commit up until Sunday.
Q: Who did we piss off to get our 2026 schedule? That is the most brutal schedule I have seen us play. (GCJC)
A: You say that now; let’s see what happens when the season gets here. We were thinking 2025 was going to be a death march this time last year.
Q: Going into playoff, in order, easiest to hardest, fixes for us?
- Our running game
- Our passing game
- Run defense (RBs/Others)
- Run defense (QB) (Me_JustAvgIllini)
A: I don’t think the top two are really big issues; they had their worst game of the season by a wide margin at Texas and still put up 367 yards. That’s just getting your mind right and playing with confidence.
The run defense against the backs should be fixable, but it should’ve been fixable all year. The run defense against a quarterback is the one that truly scares me. Thankfully, the possible opponents in the opening week of the CFP don’t have mobile quarterbacks (Unless they get OU and John Mateer, but he can be easier to home in on because they have no other running game).
Q: Is Penn State ever going to recover from the Franklin firing? No coach, no recruits, probably dreading the portal. (H273)
A: I don’t know. It won’t be easy, but they’re still Penn State and rule that region, largely from DC up. But this has been absolutely brutal for them and a huge boon for Virginia Tech, who ended up signing nearly all of Penn State’s 2026 recruiting class.
Q: We seem to be on the very low end amongst ranked teams related to average NIL payments. Doee that translate into a big war chest as far as going after portal targets? (Hogtide)
A: I suppose so.
Q: Not including those juniors who might declare for the NFL draft plus portal departures, what would be our scholarship count with our 26 signees. Some conferences allow up to football 105 scholarships. Does the SEC? (Davdi)
A: Like I said earlier, I have them right at 85. The SEC currently does not allow for 105 scholarship rosters, but I think teams are going to act like they will before next season starts.
Q: Mark you mentioned you do not see O’Neill and Hart being here in the future. I was impressed with O’Neill with his brief stints until Samford when he seemed to really struggle. Made me wonder why! Hart came in, performed well, etc. We know Reed is coming back and likely the starting QB. So give and evaluation of the rest of the QB room. Why do you think the incoming QB recruit would have an advantage? (DentonAg80)
A: Ok, a couple of things: I don’t see O’Neill and Hart both being here in the future, not that both were going to leave. And Reed isn’t likely the starting quarterback, he is the starting quarterback.
So the QB room as it stands:
Marcel Reed — potential 2026 preseason Heisman favorite, pre-season All-American level player.
Miles O’Neill — tremendous arm. Better runner than people think. Struggles with his decision-making, staring down receivers and throws balls he shouldn’t, hence the interception against Samford.
Brady Hart — Extremely young, but also impressively polished for a kid. Can make all the throws. Seems to be an above average decision maker, but he hasn’t faced anything close to an SEC defense yet.
Eli Morcos — Still in the development process.
Helaman Casuga — Strong arm, capable of running and avoiding the pass rush. Ran a similar system at Corner Canyon. Aggressive passer and may need to learn that the check down can be the better part of valor. His edge comes from his running ability, as he could be a true RPO quarterback, unlike O’Neill and Hart.
Q: How will Moss be perceived by the NFL? Will they see a very dependable back with good speed and power or will they see an often injured back who will fall to the late rounds, if drafted at all. I hope he falls somewhere in between and gets a chance. (Gusnwoodrow)
A: I think they’re going to see a physical runner with good speed and isn’t afraid of contact. They’re also going to see a back who can’t stay healthy. That’s what will knock him to the mid- to late rounds.
Q: In your MM thoughts piece you mentioned the “feeling” you got during the game against Texas. You stated that you got a weird “vibe”.
Can you elaborate on that? In your opinion, what is the gap that needs to be dealt with? (Brc123)
A: Yeah, I got the feeling they didn’t trust themselves and weren’t playing with the confidence they normally do. I don’t know if it was because it was Texas or what, but they just didn’t act or respond the way they did the entire rest of the year.
Q: Does Elko and Co. already have a preliminary list of possible transfer portals they’ll target IF those guys do enter? Do they have insight on who they think will enter?
A: I’m sure they do. There’s so much going on behind the scenes before the portal opens that it kind of makes a mockery of the whole thing.
How many more kids will they take in the portal and remind us what positions they’re looking to fill out or upgrade?
Depends on the 105 rule and who leaves. But I’d be looking for offensive and defensive line help and a top of the line receiver.
Please tell us how Cody did with the mouth breathing bayou kid. Remind the kid that corn dogs are only used for food and not what his uncle said. (Tsip despiser)
Ah, yes. Well, she went into class, sat down, looked right at him and said, “A&M is in the playoff and part of the reason is they punked your stupid team on their own field. Google THAT.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said.
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