AggieYell Mailbag

Here’s this week’s edition of the AggieYell Mailbag, brought to you by Tipton Auto Group:

Q: What are your thoughts on A&Ms strategy for 5* talent and how that fits with a total NIL team concept? (Big Smoothie)

A: I think they’re very judicious with how they approach major talent. They look into the player and how he fits not just on the field, but in the locker room. Then they are able to talk numbers with them and they try to establish if their (the player’s) value meets their demands. If they do, they’ll pursue. That’s how they do it with everyone, but you’re obviously talking about bigger numbers with 5-stars.

Q: Did EJ Smith‘s blocking on the punt return surprise you or has he always been a good blocker? He probably has no NFL future but putting him out as the lead blocker on sweeps just might yield results. (H273)

A: I was surprised not by him making a block, but making three. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. But I’m not sure I like him as a lead blocker because he’s not really big enough to take on a linebacker consistently and I don’t want him to get his bell rung. I’d lean to someone like Amari Niblack in that role.

Q: More than ever, I am wondering how Elko will feed so many hungry mouths.

With Mario and KC getting open… will ABR and TB can’t be left out.

TE room looks great. Theo, Niblack, and Nate can all contribute.

Le’Veon will take more carries each week. I’m not sold on Owens, and the freshman is due a few runs. Daniels deserves carries just for coming back.

Reed will run a few.

80 plays. / 11 = 7 targets/carries.

One thing would help is no 3 and outs.

How would spread it out assuming the defense isn’t selling out to stop the run? (Richard23)

A: I really think it would vary from week to week. Does team X have an NFL-caliber corner that can limit Concepcion? Gameplan more for Craver to get the ball. A team is undersized or under-talented up front? Run it with all three or four guys. One of the great thing about having this many quality offensive players is it allows you to be diverse. Last year, they had very little ability to do that. 

Q: Has the basketball player from NC State make it to campus? Thought I remember reading he was waiting to get cleared for the transfer but it hadn’t been finalized. Sorry, can’t remember his name off the top of my head? (TAMU_Fan)

A: Marcus Hill. I think he’s good to go. He’s been practicing with the team the whole time.

Q: What adjustments did the defense make after the first play of the second half to stop the run so effectively? 

A: Really, they didn’t do much except stop screwing up. They were running themselves out of plays, taking bad angles, or botching their roles. The long touchdown happened because 10 guys were playing one defense and a single guy was playing the other. Once they knocked that off, UTSA had no chance.

Why does it take half a game to adjust? 

Sometimes you have to see what they’re doing to adjust to it. Coach Elko said after the game that UTSA’s draw plays were entirely knew and they’d never seen them before. It was the first game of the year — but they can’t afford to do that again.

Was the adjustment at the expense of another aspect of the defense? (Kneuse)

Nope. 

Q: I share your “show me” mentality for this year’s team. Not to down play a win last week with many positives, but I will remain in a state of “show me” until we win games in November, December, and January. Do you get a sense from the players and Elko and co that they recognize they haven’t done anything until they make the SEC championship game? (Old Man 31)

A: When you talk mindsets, it’s a little more complicated than “We gotta get here.” It’s “we want to get here but we won’t if we screw up this week.” I remember watching a video of a guy talking to his teammates before an NFC Championship game and he says, “This is bigger than the Super Bowl, because if you lose today, you don’t go.” So it’s good to have that longterm objective, but you can’t afford to look past a single game.

Q: What are the 3 most important results (beside a WIN) you will be looking for this weekend against UST to validate the Aggie FB team and coaches can compete for the SEC title this year? (BoxsterBoy72)

A: It’s week 2, so I don’t know if you can say anything about winning the SEC yet. But if you go out and dominate on the offensive line and run at will against a team that stopped the run last week, have Reed continue to make big plays and then seriously pressure Utah State’s quarterback (who was sacked six times last week), those are all very positive signs.

Q: A&M scored its first TD of the season on special teams.

Any idea how many times that’s happened in the past? I asked Grok, Copilot, Google Gemini…none could give me an answer. (Hippin)

A: 1998 started with a defensive score, but that’s the closest I can remember.

Q: Who are the “just wait until next year” guys on the current roster? AKA who are the guys that won’t play this year but have high expectations for 2026 from the staff. (Dp47)

A: WR Jerome Myles, TE Kiotti Armstrong, CB Adonyss Currie, OT Lamont Rogers and S Tom Tom Johnson are the guys I hear the most. I personally want to see what DT DJ Sanders can do, because he got off to a nice start the other night. I would include LB Noah Mikhail on this list, but I’m not sure he won’t be playing by midseason or later.

Q: Any update on Agee? (Chickennuggett666777)

A: Nope, just that the staff expects him to get his waiver.

Q: Strictly from a football standpoint (I.e. ignoring factors such as value of degree), would you take a scholarship from a small DI or a preferred walk-on spot at a power 5 school? I am assuming NIL or other payments are negligible. (QuickDrawMcGraw77)

A: I would absolutely take the scholarship. If I perform well, maybe I can transfer to a higher level of competition, whereas a PWO probably won’t get enough time to show what he can really do. And, if I don’t perform to that level, I’m still playing ball and getting an education paid for.

Q: utsa seemed like a chance to work our passing attack and it seems much improved. Do you expect us to work the run more against ut state or hold off a bit until nd? (Hogtide)

A: They only ran 15 times with the backs, so I think it’s very likely that they use the running game more. You want to get some real work in on the running game under game conditions, so this is your last chance before South Bend.

Q: Regarding the UTSA game:

• Biggest surprise

A: How good the new wide receivers were. They blew me away.

• Biggest disappointment

Still having trouble with the run.

• One area where you have complete confidence now

Complete confidence is an overstatement, but I am much more confident about the passing game and the secondary.

• One area where you’re still in a wait and see 

Run defense.

When I rewatched the game on TV and read your drive by drive, I came away with a very different perspective than watching it live. We know you’ve had a tough week – prayers for you and family – Anything you’ve seen or processed since the game that makes you feel significantly different about the team or the performance than how you felt Saturday night.

The thing I keep coming back to is that six series stretch from the second drive of the third quarter to the last drive of the game where UTSA couldn’t do anything. They got one first down, by penalty. Otherwise, A&M completely crushed their offense, while the Aggie offense was going up and down the field. That stretch was about as complete as I’ve seen an A&M team play in a long time. If they can translate that to a full game, this team is dangerous.

Any freshman get meaningful snaps that impressed? (Elicrow)

A: Thankfully, two of the defensive tackles, Landon Rink and DJ Sanders. Both had three tackles and a tackle for loss when they were in the game late. 

Q: Do you agree with On3 assigning you an All American title or should your title be unique. El Jefe, perhaps. (QuickDrawMcgraw77)

A: I guess “ruler of all he surveys” was too long. But El Jefe wouldn’t suck.

Q: I know it’s one game but…

Rank order: Anias Smith, M Craver, KC Conception, T Bussey, ABR (elicrow)

A: I don’t even think you can judge the last two. But I’d go Concepcion, Ainias, Craver with the other three.

Q: Only 1 game in I know, but based on that, any teams you feel like will be better than expected? Worse? (TAMU-83)

A: Not really. I’m sorry, but I haven’t been able to watch much ball beyond A&M the last week or so.

Q: 1. In watching (assuming you had the chance) to watch the Catholics v. Convicts game this weekend, what do you see the areas where and how we can attack the little green dogans come a week from Saturday?

A: I haven’t watched much. I’ll try to this week. I’m sorry.

2. Was there a particular formation on D that worked better for us against the run? Was there a formation that didn’t and why?

A: When they split one of the ends out really wide (normally Marco Jones), UTSA tended to run right in that gap. If they went with a normally spaced four-man front, they didn’t run well.

3. Is Bronco Mendenhall known for anything in particular that we should be looking for? (Tsip despiser)

He won big at BYU and won some at UVA, which is no mean feat. He’s a defensive coach by trade and his teams tend to be tough on that side of the ball. But he’s got one heck of a rebuild to undertake at Utah State.

Q: Your best guess on how many starters for UTSA would be in the two deep of an average SEC team? What about Utah State? (Elicrow)

A: For UTSA, QB Owen McCown, RB Robert Henry, WRs David Amadour and Devin McCain, and TE Houston Thomas.

For Utah State? Probably nobody.

Q: Jordan Lockhart thoughts – saw him in and thought he ran himself out of a few plays and then made a few plays. Dont recall seeing him in during the critical 3rd quarter – more time for him this week? 

A: probably depends on how the game goes, but yeah, I can see that. He got a good number of snaps last weekend.

Really like Williams and York but good grief need to have a capable backup with a bit more experience. (Rooster77)

They do have one. Daymion Sanford.

Q: If UTSA were playing Utah St this weekend at a true neutral site instead of us, who wins? (Klloyd11)

A: UTSA would probably win quite comfortably. I don’t want to say run them out of the stadium, but you get the idea.

Night, mom.

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