Negative Recruiting Your Own School: The aggy Screenshot Megathread

texifornia · July 7, 2023

Just now, billfromlaketravis said:

I know MarathonAg12 isn't regarded, but I'm not sure after this post. He's a frequent poster in TexAg's bourbon thread. He seems to make a decent living. All I can come up with :

....why do you know what's going on in the TexAgs bourbon thread?

billfromlaketravis · July 7, 2023

5 minutes ago, texifornia said:

....why do you know what's going on in the TexAgs bourbon thread?

Information.

Orange&White · July 7, 2023

2 hours ago, texifornia said:

The offseason history rewrite is well underway

Their roller coaster has the precision and punctuality of a german railroad.

TexasRenegade · July 7, 2023

1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I know MarathonAg12 isn't regarded, but I'm not sure after this post. He's a frequent poster in TexAg's bourbon thread. He seems to make a decent living. All I can come up with :

Maybe he's been talking to Jimbo...or Phil Steele

https://www.si.com/college/tamu/football/texas-am-tamu-aggies-football-sec-west-phil-steele-alabama-crimson-tide-lsu-tigers-conner-weigman-jimbo-fisher-bobby-petrino#:~:text=Phil Steele ranked powerhouses Alabama,2 team%2C" Steele said.

billfromlaketravis · July 7, 2023

9 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

Maybe he's been talking to Jimbo...or Phil Steele

https://www.si.com/college/tamu/football/texas-am-tamu-aggies-football-sec-west-phil-steele-alabama-crimson-tide-lsu-tigers-conner-weigman-jimbo-fisher-bobby-petrino#:~:text=Phil Steele ranked powerhouses Alabama,2 team%2C" Steele said.

Very cringey. Especially the OL lies.

NoName · July 7, 2023

3 hours ago, ATXhorn17 said:

Looking at their schedule, I’ll be shocked if they do better than 7-5…

-Slim odds that they beat Tennessee at Neyland or LSU in Death Valley
-Alabama is replacing a lot, but they still have an 80% win percentage vs A&M all time
-They face Ole Miss on the road, and Kiffin has their number
-South Carolina returns Rattler
-Miami should be much better in year 2 under Cristobal
-Arkansas has a senior QB under center (KJ Jefferson), loaded up in the portal and will be highly motivated (they gave away the game last year)
-Auburn should be MUCH better under Hugh Freeze and with Phil Montgomery as OC
-Miss State won’t have the pirate (RIP), but this match up has usually been a toss up historically

KFord Realistic Expectations graphic:

has them projected to be favorites in all but 4 of their games and has them at 7.7-4.3 and 4.1-3.9 in conference lol

imagine being ineligible for a bowl with 3 gimme wins every season. man his system HATES their offense, that's for sure.

very early SP+ has them as #51 offense. they finished as #72 last year.

Edited July 7, 2023 by NoName

RomaVicta · July 7, 2023

I guess literally once 11 years ago. Or maybe he means 1939 as not too long ago. Or maybe he means finishing somewhere that's not first in their division but isn't last either.

texifornia · July 7, 2023

11 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

I guess literally once 11 years ago. Or maybe he means 1939 as not too long ago. Or maybe he means finishing somewhere that's not first in their division but isn't last either.

They've retconned the COVID Orange Bowl year as a swaggering return to greatness unfairly denied by the corrupt NCAA. It's definitely what he's talking about.

closetojumping · July 7, 2023

59 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

Maybe he's been talking to Jimbo...or Phil Steele

https://www.si.com/college/tamu/football/texas-am-tamu-aggies-football-sec-west-phil-steele-alabama-crimson-tide-lsu-tigers-conner-weigman-jimbo-fisher-bobby-petrino#:~:text=Phil Steele ranked powerhouses Alabama,2 team%2C" Steele said.

In his magazine, Steele went so far as to say that the ATM OL will be a candidate for the Joe Moore Award this year. I laughed.

RomaVicta · July 7, 2023

19 minutes ago, texifornia said:

They've retconned the COVID Orange Bowl year as a swaggering return to greatness unfairly denied by the corrupt NCAA. It's definitely what he's talking about.

Even more pitiful than I thought.

Edited July 7, 2023 by RomaVicta

Hank Chinaski · July 7, 2023

33 minutes ago, texifornia said:

They've retconned the COVID Orange Bowl year as a swaggering return to greatness unfairly denied by the corrupt NCAA. It's definitely what he's talking about.

Imagine thinking that you were screwed out of a playoff spot in a regular season in which you lost a game 52-24 and only beat one team with a winning record.

SydneyCarton · July 7, 2023

3 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Information.

We have a bourbon thread too. Why would you go to those knobs for any info? Does he make a decent living, or does he just make a decent living compared to state farm agents?

Hank_Hill · July 7, 2023

You can buy good bourbon on welfare if you prioritize your spending

billfromlaketravis · July 7, 2023

12 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

We have a bourbon thread too. Why would you go to those knobs for any info? Does he make a decent living, or does he just make a decent living compared to state farm agents?

With a post that dumb, I bet he’s a VP at XOM.

texifornia · July 7, 2023

texifornia · July 7, 2023

texifornia · July 7, 2023

Mitch Cumsteen · July 7, 2023

1. Ewers appeared to "digress" last year.

2. A&M is going 8-4 every season until proven otherwise.

3. I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago and the internet was blazing fast.

Elmer_Fudd · July 7, 2023

They keep saying losing Bijan and Roschon are going to cost us one or two games. So how many games is losing Achane going to cost them.

Hank_Hill · July 7, 2023

They have no where to go but up. Being on the top of that list is not a compliment

Mr. Mojo Risin' · July 7, 2023

4 minutes ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

They keep saying losing Bijan and Roschon are going to cost us one or two games. So how many games is losing Achane going to cost them.

I'll take our RB's waiting in the wings over theirs all day and twice on Sunday...

NoName · July 7, 2023

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

In his magazine, Steele went so far as to say that the ATM OL will be a candidate for the Joe Moore Award this year. I laughed.

yet another click up the roller coaster is everyone reading this re: their OL and buying in.

over the next few months, you can add another click when we hear "ITS REALLY A QB COMPETITION, WE PROMISE!" or the meltdown that happens if Max Johnson actually out out performs Weigman.

add another click when we start to see the "ITS A GREAT SCHEME THAT BOBBY PETRINO RUNS! SO CUTTING EDGE" in a few weeks

add in another click when we start to see the "EVAN STEWART REALLY CARES ABOUT FOOTBALL, THIS YEAR, WE PROMISE" and "AINIAS SMITH IS BACK AT FULL STRENGTH AND WILL BE SPLIT BETWEEN WR AND RB"

add in another click with "CHANTZ JOHNSON WAS OVERLOOKED BY EVERYONE BUT HE GREW UP IN A MAROON HOUSE, LOVES A&M AND WANTED TO GO HERE ALL HIS LIFE. NOW HE IS CHALLENGING TO START AS THE NEXT STAR FOR THE WRECKING CREW DEFENSE"

add in another click with "MAX WRIGHT CAME BACK TO FINISH THE JOB AT TEXAS A&M AND LEADS THE NATIONS MOST TALENTED TE ROOM" articles from the battalion

billfromlaketravis · July 7, 2023

Steele is an interesting guest on sports talk shows. Engaging speaker, very confident in himself, seems like a nice guy. But his college football takes are dogshit, and his gambling tips are worse. He makes Bear Fallica look like Ace Rothstein.

texifornia · July 7, 2023

RomaVicta · July 7, 2023

1 They lost to Clemson by 14, lost to Alabama by 21, and were thoroughly crushed by LSU. The point? Ya got me.

2 Convoluted way of saying they play Alabama every year. This is not more or an achievement for A&M than it is for MSU or Arkansas. The difference is those schools don't try to find obscure ways to inflate their self-image.

3 Against who? They upset Alabama twice (so has Ole Miss). Why mention the other 10 wins in this context? Of course, to deceive people into believing you're not an annual 8-4 team that nobody cares about. The waking giant of the FCS schedule! Whoopsie.

4 Aggies love to do schedule comparisons with us so they won't have to rely on the head-to-head contest. Even though tu beat us, we played Alabama closer than they did. 'Nuff said!

SHOOTER12 · July 7, 2023

18 hours ago, markstanco said:

That was solid on the final year stuff.

Not untrue though, both teams need to win convincingly each conference game and not leave it up to a ref with 20 seconds left.

Yep, leave no chance for asshattery, LEAVE NO FUCKING DOUBT!

Hagbard Celine · July 7, 2023

7 hours ago, ATXhorn17 said:

Looking at their schedule, I’ll be shocked if they do better than 7-5…

-Slim odds that they beat Tennessee at Neyland or LSU in Death Valley
-Alabama is replacing a lot, but they still have an 80% win percentage vs A&M all time
-They face Ole Miss on the road, and Kiffin has their number
-South Carolina returns Rattler
-Miami should be much better in year 2 under Cristobal
-Arkansas has a senior QB under center (KJ Jefferson), loaded up in the portal and will be highly motivated (they gave away the game last year)
-Auburn should be MUCH better under Hugh Freeze and with Phil Montgomery as OC
-Miss State won’t have the pirate (RIP), but this match up has usually been a toss up historically

a smoking crater would be nice, but they are statistically likely to make up for last year's mini-crater which is why the vegas o/u is 8.5 wins

in 80/03/08 they only won 4, but that's it

you have to go back more than 50 years to stallings and bellard to get a run of 3- and 4-win seasons

the 3- or 4-win total catastrophe is far more likely next year or the year after

Wulaw Horn · July 7, 2023

10 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

a smoking crater would be nice, but they are statistically likely to make up for last year's mini-crater which is why the vegas o/u is 8.5 wins

in 80/03/08 they only won 4, but that's it

you have to go back more than 50 years to stallings and bellard to get a run of 3- and 4-win seasons

the 3- or 4-win total catastrophe is far more likely next year or the year after

Have to wait until the SEC goes to 9 games to try to plum those depths.

Mr. Mojo Risin' · July 7, 2023

So what does this mean for jumbo since he hasn't done shit at aggy outside of the covid* year?

Hagbard Celine · July 7, 2023

4 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

I guess literally once 11 years ago. Or maybe he means 1939 as not too long ago. Or maybe he means finishing somewhere that's not first in their division but isn't last either.

30 years ago.... just a generation and a half.... or 2..... since the salad days of overnight express delivery

nnm · July 7, 2023

8 hours ago, NoName said:

Greg Davis has not los this tough and is not antiquated. next year we return a ton of talent and they have been in the system a full year, including spring and summer!

*adequatesd. C’mon man.

CHIEF · July 7, 2023

22 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

30 years ago.... just a generation and a half.... or 2..... since the salad days of overnight express delivery

CHIEF Jr. was 4 months old, sitting on his momma's hip sucking on a pacifier the last time eggy won anything of note (1998). He is now a 25 y.o. ME, and would have to carry his momma on his hip. That's what I tell aggies at our 19th Hole when they tell me Texas is irrelevant.

CHIEF

linux · July 8, 2023

5 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Steele is an interesting guest on sports talk shows. Engaging speaker, very confident in himself, seems like a nice guy. But his college football takes are dogshit, and his gambling tips are worse. He makes Bear Fallica look like Ace Rothstein.

I wish I could find a true reverse midas just so I could bet the opposite, sadly just getting .55 against the spread means you are a godlike and draw too much attention.

Hank Chinaski · July 8, 2023

4 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

1 They lost to Clemson by 14, lost to Alabama by 21, and were thoroughly crushed by LSU. The point? Ya got me.

2 Convoluted way of saying they play Alabama every year. This is not more or an achievement for A&M than it is for MSU or Arkansas. The difference is those schools don't try to find obscure ways to inflate their self-image.

3 Against who? They upset Alabama twice (so has Ole Miss). Why mention the other 10 wins in this context? Of course, to deceive people into believing you're not an annual 8-4 team that nobody cares about. The waking giant of the FCS schedule! Whoopsie.

4 Aggies love to do schedule comparisons with us so they won't have to rely on the head-to-head contest. Even though tu beat us, we played Alabama closer than they did. 'Nuff said!

Also - the guy is trying to make a point about schedule strength using “#1 team” as a proxy, and includes 2 seasons (2019, 2022) in which both a&m and Texas played a common opponent who was #1 in one of the games but not the other.

So, his point seems rely on the idea that the exact same team is a better opponent if they are ranked #1 at the time of the game than if they aren’t (e.g., LSU in 2019 was undefeated national champs but not yet ranked first when they played Texas).

This is less a “fun fact” than it is a meaningless observation.

BigHornedLurker · July 8, 2023

9 hours ago, texifornia said:

They've retconned the COVID Orange Bowl year as a swaggering return to greatness unfairly denied by the corrupt NCAA. It's definitely what he's talking about.

Maybe one of the most appropriate uses of retcon in real life I've ever seen. Bravo

Fondren & Main · July 8, 2023

Bitches need to get kicked.

Hagbard Celine · July 8, 2023

7 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Have to wait until the SEC goes to 9 games to try to plum those depths.

with 8 home games, 3 purchased wins and a high school team 2nd bye week, it would be very difficult

but this is aggy we are talking about

never underestimate the ability of aggy to go full aggy

it's not likely, but based on current trajectory, it's possible in 25 or 26

not this year though....

8T4

DanTheHorn · July 8, 2023

20 hours ago, Hank_Hill said:

They have no where to go but up. Being on the top of that list is not a compliment

Yea I took being on that list as being in one of three categories:

a) Top underperformers of 2022 (Aggy and Texas are in this category)

b) Who sucked so bad in 2022 and has enough incoming transfers that they can't help but put them on the list (Colorado)

c) Coaches that are in year two of putting in their system and have the talent to improve. (Miami and Oklahoma)

So aggy or Texas making fun of each other about being on that list is just is a fruitless effort. Both coaches have sucked so far and neither HC has shown they can get out of their own way. One has an archaic offense and the other can't make in game adjustments to save his life. I have more hope Steve will break out of his rut but their is no evidence he can do so, therefore I have to hold on to hope.

Edited July 8, 2023 by DanTheHorn

Sgt Hulk · July 8, 2023

21 hours ago, texifornia said:

We are all super fucked. They are gaining intelligence

Nivek · July 9, 2023

On 7/7/2023 at 5:17 PM, RomaVicta said:

1 They lost to Clemson by 14, lost to Alabama by 21, and were thoroughly crushed by LSU. The point? Ya got me.

2 Convoluted way of saying they play Alabama every year. This is not more or an achievement for A&M than it is for MSU or Arkansas. The difference is those schools don't try to find obscure ways to inflate their self-image.

3 Against who? They upset Alabama twice (so has Ole Miss). Why mention the other 10 wins in this context? Of course, to deceive people into believing you're not an annual 8-4 team that nobody cares about. The waking giant of the FCS schedule! Whoopsie.

4 Aggies love to do schedule comparisons with us so they won't have to rely on the head-to-head contest. Even though tu beat us, we played Alabama closer than they did. 'Nuff said!

They also play down a division every single year.

Getafix · July 9, 2023

This is from the guy whom they consider - believe it or not - their in-house skeptic and purveyor of negativity.

The screengrab of the - ahem - understated headline below. After that is the complete "article" (in the spoilered section), for gluttons of punishment.

2023 Texas A&M profile: Veteran QB Max Johnson could start almost anywhere else
Jeff Tarpley

Spoiler

2023 Texas A&M profile: Veteran QB Max Johnson could start almost anywhere else
Jeff Tarpley

Introduction

Texas A&M's 2022 season was much more of a downer than anyone could have anticipated given the fact that the roster was composed of four top ten recruiting classes and most recently the number one class of all time (per the 247 Sports Composite). Instead, injuries forced too many expected contributes off the field and too many of those highly touted freshmen onto it. The result was a 5-7 record and things seemed to get worse before they got better when about two dozen members of the roster (including about half a dozen players from that 2022 class) departed College Station in the weeks immediately following the season.

However, the reality is that the Aggies remain a talented program on paper. A&M returns 19 of 22 starters from the last game of the 2022 season (which was a win over then fifth ranked and SEC West champion LSU). ESPN's Bill Connelly has the Aggies seventh in the nation in returning production (per his calculations) as they bring back 80% of their production from last year (82% on offense and 77% on defense) and this includes former five-star quarterback Conner Weigman, their top two receivers, eight offensive linemen with starting experience, a three deep in the defensive front, and replacements both from within the program and outside of it in the portal to fill some losses in the secondary. New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino is expected not only to improve the offense but enable head coach Jimbo Fisher to be a more effective game and program manager.

This series is a look at those players in terms how they were rated coming out of high school, how they got to Aggieland, how well they've played so far, and most importantly what we can expect from them in 2023.

Veteran single caller Max Johnson incurred a season ending injury last season that allowed former five star Conner Weigman to gain valuable experience as the future became the present at the position. Thus, despite Johnson's best efforts to land the starting role, he's now looking at being one of the most experienced backups in college football.

*********************

WHAT DID COLLEGES SEE IN HIM?
Johnson is the son of former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl winner Brad Johnson. He played at Oconee County High School His high school statistics weren't as eye popping as most quarterbacks because he never threw the ball much (only 258 times in 15 games as a senior) until his last campaign in high school. That's when he completed 64% of his passes for 30 touchdowns and five interceptions (he essentially had a one to one touchdown to interception ratio prior to that). He led them to a 13-2 record in his final high school campaign.

RECRUITING RANKING
Johnson was ranked as a four star in the 2020 recruiting class per 247 Sports Composite coming out of high school. He had a 0.909 score overall as the 253rd best player and tenth best pro style quarterback in the country.

COMMITMENT TIME
Johnson chose LSU coming out of high school and he had offers from Georgia, Auburn, and Florida State as well. However, A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher offered him in the spring of 2018 which was about two years before he signed a letter of intent (Fisher knew Johnson's father from Johnson's playing days there as well as the fact that Fisher had been the head coach there).

Johnson started two seasons at LSU but decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal after the arrival of new head coach Brian Kelly. He was ranked as the seventh best transfer quarterback available with a higher rating per 247 Sports after his first two seasons in college (0.9200) as opposed to when he came out of high school. Johnson's brother Jake (a four star tight recruit) had been committed to the Tigers to follow his brother to Baton Rouge. However, when Max hit the portal, Jake de-committed and wound up committing to the Aggies in December 2021. Max followed up with a commitment to the Aggies the next day.

2020
Johnson enrolled early in 2020 and it was originally thought that he would compete with T.J. Finley for the backup role behind four star Myles Brennan. However, Brennan was injured in the third game of the season and wound up missing the remainder of the year. Finley got the starting nod for a few games but his play waned (he threw five interceptions in five starts, three of them losses) and Johnson increasingly got more snaps as the Tigers began to regress from losing games to getting blown out. In fact, he led LSU to a very late touchdown in a 20-7 loss to the Aggies that season.

Johnson finally got the starting berth for good and helped lead the Tigers to an upset of then top ten Florida in The Swamp with a last minute field goal in 37-34 win. Johnson had three touchdowns, no interceptions, and was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the win. He then faced off versus Ole Miss' Matt Corral the following week and out dueled him with a 435 yard, three touchdown performance as he led LSU to a 52-48 win.

Overall, he connected on 88-of-150 passes for 1,069 yards, eight touchdowns and only one interception.

2021
Johnson was supposed to take a back seat to Brennan last season but Brennan got hurt again right before the start of the season. As a result, Johnson was tabbed as the starter once more heading into the season opener at UCLA.

Johnson often had to operate behind an offensive line that struggled to protect him (only Tennessee's quarterbacks were sacked more in SEC play). He had no running game for the most part playing in a pass heavy offense (the Tigers ranked 13th in average per rush in 2021). Nonetheless, he got off to a great start from a numbers standpoint, tossing 15 touchdowns versus three interceptions in his first four games. However, as the Tigers got into their SEC schedule and younger players made their way into the lineup (his drop rate was second in the league at 11.8% per Pro Football Focus), the burden of carrying the offense began to overwhelm him. Starting wideout Kayshon Boutte went down in the sixth game of the year and Johnson entered a six game stretch where he threw just seven touchdowns and never had an average per attempt over 7.1 yards. This culminated in him being benched for freshman Garrett Nussmeier versus Arkansas after he started just three of six in that game.

Nussmeier's family decided that that they didn't want him playing without much of a supporting cast and to save him for playing for a non lame duck coach (it had been announced by that time that Ed Orgeron would not be returning to Baton Rouge). Johnson was handed the keys to the offense again then proceeded to look more like his old self. He regaining his confidence, finishing against ULM and the Aggies with five touchdowns and no picks. However, he took a fearful beating versus A&M, taking six sacks.

He finished the season 225-of-373 for 2,815 yards (7.5 YPA), 27 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. He was the eighth rated passer in the SEC.

2022
Johnson transferred into a situation where he was not only competing against Haynes King (A&M's projected 2021 starter before going down with a broken leg in the second game of the year) and five star freshman Conner Weigman. King won the starting spot in fall camp but lost it after just two games and Johnson took over. He beat Miami and Arkansas by making high percentage throws and moving the chains but a lack of protection resulted in him suffering a hand injury in a road loss at Mississippi State and he was gone for the rest of the season. He wound up hitting 61% of his passes, averaging 7.3 yards per attempt, and throwing three touchdowns with no picks.

STRENGTHS
- The thing that jumps out at you most about Johnson is that he is very efficient in terms of protecting the ball. In a little over two seasons, he has had a 5:1 touchdown to interception ratio which is extremely high.

- He is accurate when provided protection because he is a quarterback's son and was raised to move around the pocket, set his feet when he delivered the ball, drop it in over someone's shoulder on deep throws, and avoid fitting it into tight windows. He doesn't take a lot of chances with the ball as evidenced by his TD/interception ratio (just 2.0% of all throws were considered turnover worthy by Pro Football Focus).

- Johnson is a big guy and his about the same size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds per A&M) as his brother. Until last season, this enabled him to absorb blows and yet continue to get up and deliver the football.

- He is also more mobile than he appears to be on the surface and can move outside the defense to deliver the ball accurately on bootlegs and rollouts.

- He is around a 60% passer for his career.

SUMMARY
- Johnson was a durable guy up until last season but in his absence Weigman took over the starting quarterback role. On the surface, he appears to have the arm talent and legs to hold Johnson off, especially as he doesn't put the ball in harm's way much either but probably generates more big plays.

- Johnson doesn't have a cannon, especially for a guy who is as big as he is. It's adequate but not overwhelming. So far in his career he's thrown mostly deep shots and shorter throws. His mechanics and footwork have to be aligned for him to maximize his play.

- He doesn't have a quick release. Due to this factor (as well as his lack of protection) he was hit way too often in 2021 and 2022 and those hits finally resulted in him missing multiple games.

- He has issues with transferring power from his legs, hips, and core to his upper body, and doesn't exactly throw people open.

- Overall, Johnson isn't a five star prospect in terms of his tools. He gets by on his intelligence and the quality of his delivery (as opposed to the velocity of the ball that comes out). He's more efficient than overpowering and he has a veteran presence on and off the field due to his game experience.

- Nonetheless, Johnson's attributes make him someone who can be a capable starter for the Aggies or potentially one of the nation's best backups if he can't wrest the starting job away from Weigman.

Bevo14 · July 9, 2023

5 hours ago, Getafix said:

This is from the guy whom they consider - believe it or not - their in-house skeptic and purveyor of negativity.

The screengrab of the - ahem - understated headline below. After that is the complete "article" (in the spoilered section), for gluttons of punishment.

2023 Texas A&M profile: Veteran QB Max Johnson could start almost anywhere else
Jeff Tarpley

Reveal hidden contents

2023 Texas A&M profile: Veteran QB Max Johnson could start almost anywhere else
Jeff Tarpley

Introduction

Texas A&M's 2022 season was much more of a downer than anyone could have anticipated given the fact that the roster was composed of four top ten recruiting classes and most recently the number one class of all time (per the 247 Sports Composite). Instead, injuries forced too many expected contributes off the field and too many of those highly touted freshmen onto it. The result was a 5-7 record and things seemed to get worse before they got better when about two dozen members of the roster (including about half a dozen players from that 2022 class) departed College Station in the weeks immediately following the season.

However, the reality is that the Aggies remain a talented program on paper. A&M returns 19 of 22 starters from the last game of the 2022 season (which was a win over then fifth ranked and SEC West champion LSU). ESPN's Bill Connelly has the Aggies seventh in the nation in returning production (per his calculations) as they bring back 80% of their production from last year (82% on offense and 77% on defense) and this includes former five-star quarterback Conner Weigman, their top two receivers, eight offensive linemen with starting experience, a three deep in the defensive front, and replacements both from within the program and outside of it in the portal to fill some losses in the secondary. New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino is expected not only to improve the offense but enable head coach Jimbo Fisher to be a more effective game and program manager.

This series is a look at those players in terms how they were rated coming out of high school, how they got to Aggieland, how well they've played so far, and most importantly what we can expect from them in 2023.

Veteran single caller Max Johnson incurred a season ending injury last season that allowed former five star Conner Weigman to gain valuable experience as the future became the present at the position. Thus, despite Johnson's best efforts to land the starting role, he's now looking at being one of the most experienced backups in college football.

*********************

WHAT DID COLLEGES SEE IN HIM?
Johnson is the son of former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl winner Brad Johnson. He played at Oconee County High School His high school statistics weren't as eye popping as most quarterbacks because he never threw the ball much (only 258 times in 15 games as a senior) until his last campaign in high school. That's when he completed 64% of his passes for 30 touchdowns and five interceptions (he essentially had a one to one touchdown to interception ratio prior to that). He led them to a 13-2 record in his final high school campaign.

RECRUITING RANKING
Johnson was ranked as a four star in the 2020 recruiting class per 247 Sports Composite coming out of high school. He had a 0.909 score overall as the 253rd best player and tenth best pro style quarterback in the country.

COMMITMENT TIME
Johnson chose LSU coming out of high school and he had offers from Georgia, Auburn, and Florida State as well. However, A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher offered him in the spring of 2018 which was about two years before he signed a letter of intent (Fisher knew Johnson's father from Johnson's playing days there as well as the fact that Fisher had been the head coach there).

Johnson started two seasons at LSU but decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal after the arrival of new head coach Brian Kelly. He was ranked as the seventh best transfer quarterback available with a higher rating per 247 Sports after his first two seasons in college (0.9200) as opposed to when he came out of high school. Johnson's brother Jake (a four star tight recruit) had been committed to the Tigers to follow his brother to Baton Rouge. However, when Max hit the portal, Jake de-committed and wound up committing to the Aggies in December 2021. Max followed up with a commitment to the Aggies the next day.

2020
Johnson enrolled early in 2020 and it was originally thought that he would compete with T.J. Finley for the backup role behind four star Myles Brennan. However, Brennan was injured in the third game of the season and wound up missing the remainder of the year. Finley got the starting nod for a few games but his play waned (he threw five interceptions in five starts, three of them losses) and Johnson increasingly got more snaps as the Tigers began to regress from losing games to getting blown out. In fact, he led LSU to a very late touchdown in a 20-7 loss to the Aggies that season.

Johnson finally got the starting berth for good and helped lead the Tigers to an upset of then top ten Florida in The Swamp with a last minute field goal in 37-34 win. Johnson had three touchdowns, no interceptions, and was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the win. He then faced off versus Ole Miss' Matt Corral the following week and out dueled him with a 435 yard, three touchdown performance as he led LSU to a 52-48 win.

Overall, he connected on 88-of-150 passes for 1,069 yards, eight touchdowns and only one interception.

2021
Johnson was supposed to take a back seat to Brennan last season but Brennan got hurt again right before the start of the season. As a result, Johnson was tabbed as the starter once more heading into the season opener at UCLA.

Johnson often had to operate behind an offensive line that struggled to protect him (only Tennessee's quarterbacks were sacked more in SEC play). He had no running game for the most part playing in a pass heavy offense (the Tigers ranked 13th in average per rush in 2021). Nonetheless, he got off to a great start from a numbers standpoint, tossing 15 touchdowns versus three interceptions in his first four games. However, as the Tigers got into their SEC schedule and younger players made their way into the lineup (his drop rate was second in the league at 11.8% per Pro Football Focus), the burden of carrying the offense began to overwhelm him. Starting wideout Kayshon Boutte went down in the sixth game of the year and Johnson entered a six game stretch where he threw just seven touchdowns and never had an average per attempt over 7.1 yards. This culminated in him being benched for freshman Garrett Nussmeier versus Arkansas after he started just three of six in that game.

Nussmeier's family decided that that they didn't want him playing without much of a supporting cast and to save him for playing for a non lame duck coach (it had been announced by that time that Ed Orgeron would not be returning to Baton Rouge). Johnson was handed the keys to the offense again then proceeded to look more like his old self. He regaining his confidence, finishing against ULM and the Aggies with five touchdowns and no picks. However, he took a fearful beating versus A&M, taking six sacks.

He finished the season 225-of-373 for 2,815 yards (7.5 YPA), 27 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. He was the eighth rated passer in the SEC.

2022
Johnson transferred into a situation where he was not only competing against Haynes King (A&M's projected 2021 starter before going down with a broken leg in the second game of the year) and five star freshman Conner Weigman. King won the starting spot in fall camp but lost it after just two games and Johnson took over. He beat Miami and Arkansas by making high percentage throws and moving the chains but a lack of protection resulted in him suffering a hand injury in a road loss at Mississippi State and he was gone for the rest of the season. He wound up hitting 61% of his passes, averaging 7.3 yards per attempt, and throwing three touchdowns with no picks.

STRENGTHS
- The thing that jumps out at you most about Johnson is that he is very efficient in terms of protecting the ball. In a little over two seasons, he has had a 5:1 touchdown to interception ratio which is extremely high.

- He is accurate when provided protection because he is a quarterback's son and was raised to move around the pocket, set his feet when he delivered the ball, drop it in over someone's shoulder on deep throws, and avoid fitting it into tight windows. He doesn't take a lot of chances with the ball as evidenced by his TD/interception ratio (just 2.0% of all throws were considered turnover worthy by Pro Football Focus).

- Johnson is a big guy and his about the same size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds per A&M) as his brother. Until last season, this enabled him to absorb blows and yet continue to get up and deliver the football.

- He is also more mobile than he appears to be on the surface and can move outside the defense to deliver the ball accurately on bootlegs and rollouts.

- He is around a 60% passer for his career.

SUMMARY
- Johnson was a durable guy up until last season but in his absence Weigman took over the starting quarterback role. On the surface, he appears to have the arm talent and legs to hold Johnson off, especially as he doesn't put the ball in harm's way much either but probably generates more big plays.

- Johnson doesn't have a cannon, especially for a guy who is as big as he is. It's adequate but not overwhelming. So far in his career he's thrown mostly deep shots and shorter throws. His mechanics and footwork have to be aligned for him to maximize his play.

- He doesn't have a quick release. Due to this factor (as well as his lack of protection) he was hit way too often in 2021 and 2022 and those hits finally resulted in him missing multiple games.

- He has issues with transferring power from his legs, hips, and core to his upper body, and doesn't exactly throw people open.

- Overall, Johnson isn't a five star prospect in terms of his tools. He gets by on his intelligence and the quality of his delivery (as opposed to the velocity of the ball that comes out). He's more efficient than overpowering and he has a veteran presence on and off the field due to his game experience.

- Nonetheless, Johnson's attributes make him someone who can be a capable starter for the Aggies or potentially one of the nation's best backups if he can't wrest the starting job away from Weigman.

He could start almost anywhere...at left bench.

Sgt Hulk · July 9, 2023

The phrase aggyland just conjures up images of gay bikers in assless chaps dancing around to Elton John hits. NTTAWT. But even Liberace said aggyland sounds gayer than gay

Scholz · July 9, 2023

*All chaps are assless

RomaVicta · July 9, 2023

Aggie pundits, as expected, have little imagination or skill with words. So was born the titanium word or phrase that miraculously never wears out in Aggie world. They never need replacing in this intellectually undemanding realm.

No short hand such as four great recruiting years capped with 2022's extraordinary haul by Jimbo. Nope. Go to the small closet of Aggie imagination and break out the titanium. Their audience of parrots expect nothing more. Reinforce the phrase for tiresome use down the line.

A titanium example. All samples from the same article, mind you:

Weigman? Who the fuck is Weigman? We got two Weigmans? Confusion.

Okay, now we must be talking about former five star quarterback Conner Weigman. I've heard of him. I believe he was ranked five stars in the greatest class of all time recruited by the Fightin' Texas Aggies from Texas!

Here's this other Weigman again. I can't believe we have another starter named Weigman, and I don't know anything about him! I wonder if he is a former five star recruit like former five star recruit Conner Weigman.

Edited July 9, 2023 by RomaVicta