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Posted
On 3/22/2025 at 12:38 PM, RomaVicta said:

Facing SEC air is a week in and week out grind. It's not for the faint of heart. It's line-of-scrimmage air. 

Ags probably still have to be able to convert a 4th down. 
 

CHIEF

Posted
On 3/22/2025 at 8:47 AM, BurntEyes said:

Well, man, they are absolutely stellar against air which clearly means SEC ready. Sad you don't know that fact.

But was the air playing zone or man-to-molecule?

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
22 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

More practice reporting sadness from Carter Karels below in the spoiler.

-Bryce Anderson has made around $350k in his career at ATM. They've completely destroyed his NFL potential and he's just generally "in the mix" at safety. Congrats, buddy! Sorry Sarkisian hurt your mom's feelings once!

 

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M football team held its sixth of 15 spring practices Tuesday on the two outdoor Coolidge Practice Fields. It marked the fourth practice GigEm247 and other media outlets could partially watch this spring. The reporters in attendance were permitted to observe, film video and take pictures for the first five periods (approximately 30 minutes) of practice before leaving. 

Reporters were not able to see the Aggies in any competitive settings like one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven work or 11-on-11 action. Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of significant takeaways from the practice. 

Still, there were a handful of notable observations that came from watching the first five periods. GigEm247 exclusively watched the defense, and here are some notes and takeaways from the viewing session.

Injury reminder

A&M coach Mike Elko previously ruled out eight injured players for the spring: linebacker Scooby Williams, cornerbacks Tyreek Chappell, Jayvon Thomas and Jamar Beal-Goines, offensive linemen Ar'maj Reed-Adams and Joshua Moses, and running backs Le'Veon Moss and Amari Daniels. 

What happened with the Aggie defense during the media-observed periods

For the first two periods, A&M worked on special teams while its defensive linemen were on the side with assistant coaches Sean Spencer and Tony Jerod-Eddie. The Aggies spent the final three periods going through position drills.

Top of the line

Given how many practice restrictions there are for the Aggies, it can be hard to take much from each viewing session. With their position drills, though, how the players are organized can be insightful about the pecking order for that unit. 

For instance, multi-year starter Taurean York is almost always at the top of the line during linebacker position drills. On the flip side, walk-ons, inexperienced players and veterans buried on the unofficial depth chart will tend to be near the back of the line.

While it is not an exact science, the way they line up is worth noting. So here is who I saw at the top of the line when watching their portion of position drills:

• Defensive tackle: Albert Regis and DJ Hicks as the starters, and Tyler Onyedim and a combination of Dealyn Evans and Jadon Scarlett as the top backups were the order during a couple drills. Regis, an incumbent starter, is coming off the best season of his career and should be viewed as entrenched with the top group. Hicks is pushing for a starting spot and looks noticeably bigger this spring, gaining 10 pounds over the winter to bring him to 6-foot-5, 310. Still, Onyedim would be my bet to start next to Regis. 

• Defensive end: TJ Searcy, Cashius Howell, Marco Jones, Sam M'Pemba, Dayon Hayes, Rylan Kennedy, Kendall Jackson, Solomon Williams were the one-by-one order during one drill, and 12th Man Nana Boadi-Owusu worked with the top group. Searcy and Howell bring the most proven production among the group and were probably the projected defensive end starters entering this spring. But keep an eye on Jones, the early-enrolled freshman who continues to receive a lot of buzz.

• Linebacker: Taurean York, Daymion Sanford, Jordan Lockhart and Kelvion Riggins were the one-by-one order during one drill, with Tristan Jernigan in the mix as well. York, an incumbent starter, should be considered cemented with the top group. Sanford is in the place of Williams, the incumbent starting will linebacker who is out for the spring.

• Cornerback: Will Lee III and Dezz Ricks as the starters, Julian Humphrey and Jordan Pride as the backups, and Adonyss Currie and Cobey Sellers as the third pairing were the order during one drill. Coming off a second-team All-SEC campaign, Lee is established as a starter. Ricks and Humphrey similarly bring experience but struggled last season. Their battle for the second starting spot will be one to watch.

• Safety: Dalton Brooks, Myles Davis, Jarred Kerr, Marcus Ratcliffe, Rashad "Tom Tom" Johnson Jr. and Bryce Anderson were the one-by-one order among scholarship players during one drill. Interestingly, Anderson came in at the back of the line when he is usually in the front. Davis will be the one to watch. The sophomore did not play many high-leverage snaps in his first season last fall, but he looks primed to make a second-year jump and is consistently near the top of the line during drills.

Special teams more of a focus

For the first two practices the media partially watched, A&M did not work on special teams during the viewing sessions. But the Aggies worked on special teams for one period during the third media-observed practice and two periods Tuesday.

We have yet to see anything from punter Tyler White or kickers Randy Bond and Jared Zirkel. They are usually inside the Coolidge Football Performance Center throughout each viewing session. During the last two media-observed practices, though, the returners received some work outside. Only offensive players were on both return teams, so it might not have been a complete representation of who all A&M has there.

Because I remained on the opposite side, I did not get a good look at the returner groups today. Here is who worked with them last Thursday.

• Punt return: wide receivers Izaiah Williams, Mario Craver, KC Concepcion, Kelshaun Johnson and TK Norman, and running back Jamarion Morrow (Alex Miller of the Eagle said receivers Williams, Craver, Concepcion and Ashton Bethel-Roman, and Morrow were working with the group Tuesday).

• Kickoff return: Running back Rueben Owens II and receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman were the primary kickoff returners.

Miscellaneous note

A&M defensive backs coach Ishmael Aristide and Sean Spencer continue to be the most entertaining assistants to watch during practice.

Aristide tends to have a colorful way of letting players know when they did not complete a drill at a satisfactory level. I will not include the full quote, but after a young defensive back essentially nudged a sled, he said: "Better get in the weight room, baby boy! You just got beat up by a sled!"

Spencer, nicknamed "coach Chaos," greeted his defensive tackles at the beginning of the second period by repeating: "Where's my running back? Where's my running back? Where's my running back?" Don't ask me what that meant, but it was amusing.

Up next

The Aggies will hold their weekly press conference Wednesday, featuring defensive coordinator Jay Bateman, offensive coordinator Collin Klein and safety Bryce Anderson. A&M will hold its seventh spring practice Thursday, which the media will be permitted to partially observe.

 

Can you expand on the bolded?

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Posted
7 minutes ago, MuellerHorn said:

Can you expand on the bolded?

Yes I would like to know more about that as well..

 

I know he was flirting on portaling here a couple years ago.. and didn't go through with it.. was that because of his mom??

Posted

He was also a lean in his final spring as a high school recruit. From what I remember, there was criticism about Sark not pushing hard to close on several targets at that time and Jimbo was able to go in and get him committed while we were playing the long game (which Sark has turned into a pretty successful approach). 

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Posted
58 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Given the limited and controlled viewing window, along with the restrictions on what the media can report, there were not a lot of significant takeaways from the practice. 

Still, there were a handful of notable observations that came from watching the first five periods.

$9.95ing at its best.

Posted
30 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

With that haircut and that face he's got Aggie written all over him.

This is a smart PR move…. Looch can sell this to the sheep as aggy beating out Ohio State for a recruit. 
You have to remember with aggy, it’s about optics, not results.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

They keep getting commits from OOS guys.

 

Screenshot_20250402_170453_Chrome.jpg

If he sticks and actually plays (an unlikely combo), I’m going to love watching Sark scheme up RB Texas routes on his unathletic ass. 

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Posted

I have spoilered Kurelic’s latest from Bucknuts. In reading that board and having a vague understanding of who’s who there, the impression I get is that he was a recruit OSU was keeping warm, but his offer wasn’t committable. One regular had him in a group a while back that was “not NIL relevant” or “ready”, can’t remember which. His older brother was offered and recruited by OSU and went to Clemson, which still pisses them off. Not sure who that was. 

They seem to think that ATM pulled the momentum play and paid him to commit. I can’t tell if that is bullshit or not, but LSU, USC and ATM are all allegedly doing that in this cycle. Other programs view that as desperate. 

Posted
7 hours ago, closetojumping said:

They seem to think that ATM pulled the momentum play and paid him to commit. I can’t tell if that is bullshit or not, but LSU, USC and ATM are all allegedly doing that in this cycle. Other programs view that as desperate. 

"Pay" as in drop a bag (or an envelope), or some sort of actual binding contract?  Because if someone gives me a bag of money to commit 8 months before I'm allowed to sign an LOI, I'd probably do that and then figure out where I really want to go.

Posted
1 hour ago, Wiler77 said:

"Pay" as in drop a bag (or an envelope), or some sort of actual binding contract?  Because if someone gives me a bag of money to commit 8 months before I'm allowed to sign an LOI, I'd probably do that and then figure out where I really want to go.

Would you do it if it retards the process and potentially leaves you without a spot at one of the more attractive schools? We're not talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars for a commitment. It's usually 4 digits, low 5's. 

Posted

I guess from my POV verbal commitments don't mean a whole hell of a lot these days.  No one will stop recruiting you just because you are verbally committed. At least if they actually want you.

Posted
15 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Would you do it if it retards the process and potentially leaves you without a spot at one of the more attractive schools? We're not talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars for a commitment. It's usually 4 digits, low 5's. 

image.gif.cf49cb7bfffdf03dd04122943fa59c4a.gif

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Posted (edited)
43 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Would you do it if it retards the process and potentially leaves you without a spot at one of the more attractive schools? We're not talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars for a commitment. It's usually 4 digits, low 5's. 

For normal people, no. But for someone with the name Storm Miller, who probably has a brother named Adolf, and who looks like the fully grown banjo kid from Deliverance, well, you might just go ahead and take the money now. 

Edited by SydneyCarton
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