Where would the out of state players rank in the AY100?
Fadil Diggs: This guy is a player. The only question is, how much of a disadvantage was playing in New Jersey? He dominated there. Would he have dominated to the same extent in Texas? Regardless, he’d be in the top 20. You do what he did on both offense and defense and it’s automatic.
Muhsin Muhammad: He’s not a dominating force like the three guys in the top 10. That doesn’t mean he’s not a really good player. He is definitely that. A very smooth route runner with great hands and better speed than most people give him credit for. Another guy would likely be in the top 20.
Isaiah Raikes: Relentless. Not the most talented guy, but no quit to him. Think of him as a more faster and more talented Kirby Ennis (and Kirby was very good for a couple years). He had a better 5-Star Challenge and senior year than Vernon Broughton, so he would probably be around 27.
Deondre Jackson: All-State in Georgia ain’t shabby. He’d be one of the better backs in-state for 2020, but that would still put him in the low 40s.
Chris Morris: Best guard in the nation with the talent to play (and likely end up at) tackle at a high level. That pushes him in to the top 10.
Donell Harris: Could have the most upside of any defensive player in the class, considering he was originally a 2021 prospect. I love his game, especially his speed. I think he would probably be in the back half of the top 10. No lower than 11.
Antonio Doyle: Man, A&M cleaned up in this class to the point where it’s tough to even place these guys. Of course, it would look different if other teams had their players from out of state in the 100, but A&M’s guys could force their way into every slot. Doyle is right there for top 10 consideration again.
Josh Moten: I little shorter than some corners, but outstanding in coverage. DC area football has gotten really good over the past several years, so there wouldn’t be much dropoff. Probably in the low-to-mid 20s.
Antonio Johnson: For my money, the best safety in the class. Certainly the most athletic. There’s a big falloff after the top four in-state guys (IMO), so he could end up at 5. Yes, I’m big on his upside.
Edgerrin Cooper: Still a little bit thin, but really fast and the top linebacker in Louisiana. That’s not a bad thing to be. This may be low, but the lower teens seems about right.
Dallas Walker: Kind of a tweeer at this point, a Kingsley Keke-ish player. Not big enough to dominate on the inside yet, but not quite fast enough to bust through the line. But he’s strong and smart. Probably late 30s, early 40s.
McKinnley Jackson: I his upside, but he’s been a little hit or miss in terms of effort. But physically, he’s a beast and has that quick first step like Daylon Mack did. But he’s bigger. So in the 12-15 range.
Darvon Hubbard: A solid producer, but with his weight fluctuating it’s not clear if he’s a power back or a scatback. He will probably end up being the former, but we’ll see. I’d put him in the late 40s, early 50s.
If all of your out-of-state recruits would end up in the top half of the Texas top 100...yeah, you recruited really well.
RB Coach update
Not much to report on this one at the moment. They’re playing it close to the vest and, compared to the other jobs that have come open, slowly. I have heard that it’s a wide net being cast, including some possible looks at NFL running back coaches. That would be an interesting one, and kind of out of character for Jimbo Fisher.
Why Tyree Wilson may be leaving and Max Wright may be moving
It was a little bit of a surprise to see Tyree Wilson’s name pop up in the transfer portal yesterday, but it wasn’t a shock to see a defensive end. I just expected another one. I’ve also heard the rumors about the possibility of Max Wright moving to fullback. I can’t confirm that one yet (I would guess we’ll know March 23), but it’s not an insane proposition. It would be a disappointing one for me, because I thought Wright looked really good at end last summer and was really impressive against Clemson before he got hurt. But if both guys want to see the field, this may be the best option.
Simply put, the Aggies have a lot of talent at defensive end and, barring cataclysmic injuries, not everyone is going to get a lot of snaps.
Right now, A&M has three starting defensive ends: Tyree Johnson, Micheal Clemons and DeMarvin Leal. Clemons and Johnson would be the guys on the field against pass first offenses, with Leal likely inside; Leal and Clemons get the call against run-first teams.
If the Aggies want to get after the passer, then they can use Johnson, Donell Harris, Jeremiah Martin or Fadil Diggs. They could get three on the field by using two as a regular end and stand the third up as an edge rusher. Martin was used in this role a lot last year, but wasn’t very effective. Top recruit two years ago or not, he really needs to step up his game.
That still leaves Braedon Mowry out, unless he forces his way onto the field, and RJ Orebo gets more time to develop. With the exception of Clemons, that whole cast of characters could return, with more additions, in 2021.
Courtney's Tidbits
“Footwork King”, seen on twitter as @footwork_king1, and otherwise known as Rischad Whitfield, has trained some of the most elite talent in the NFL, college and in the high school ranks. He is working with several Aggies and talks with AY about some of the newest additions to A&M’s roster, their training and the process.
Demond Demas:
Demond is like my baby—he is with me so much and around me to the point where I know him and work well with him. Him and I will be going real hard in May. I know when it’s time to start really grinding and grinding with him. I have the routes he will be doing at A&M and the playbook so we will be going through that. With Demond I focus on the stuff that he is weak at. People see Demond and know he is great, but Demond likes to do things that he is already good at, that he has been blessed with. He can run faster than everybody. He can jump higher than everybody. He can’t ride off that. When I work with Demond we work a lot on releases off the line of scrimmage; he’s a bigger receiver so he wont do much finesse type stuff, but I want him to have a quick first step; we work on hand fighting—defensive backs love to put their hands on you. Demond is a real aggressive kid as it is, so I am working with him making sure he has the right leverage—make sure db’s cant push him off his route. We work on route running. He is a tall receiver—he doesn’t come out of his break as quickly and fluently as I like and that he needs to be at the next level, so we work on that. We are making sure he is a tight and precise route runner; that he is getting in and out of his breaks quickly and efficiently. We also work on quick catching drills. Sometimes he likes to run up the field before he catches the ball fully, so we make sure he has clean catches and hooking the ball in. As far as the mental part of the game, I don’t have to install that in him—like be aggressive and attack the ball—because he has that personality already. I remind him to be humble, but other than that he plays with a high confidence.
Offensive Lineman Smart Chibuzo and Aki Ogunbiyi:
Footwork is the foundation for lineman. They are big guys. They have got to be able to move laterally and directionally and quickly. That’s part of the reason of what’s going on with the A&M o-line right now. These edge rushers are coming off the edge and these defensive tackles are so athletic and so quick that a lot of these guys just don’t move as well as those guys. For instance when A&M played LSU-- I think it was Colton Prater (it was Dan Moore) who might have been the left tackle I believe—K’Lavon (Chaisson) would take him out wide and then make an inside move, but Colton was quick enough to counter his move. You’ve got to match his movement, so I’ve been working with them on that big time. Making sure these guys don’t have heavy feat, balance, good body control, but really making sure their foot speed and footwork is quick and controlled. Coach Brandon Jordan is another trainer working with me, he played o-line, and he is working on them with technique and fundamentals at the o-line position. He also trains all these awesome pass rushing guys, so he is giving them the inside on what to do if a guy does this or if a defensive tackle does that. They are working on details like angles; how they have their hands and the way they shift their hands. Aki and Smart have really been getting the best from both worlds. Then there is also the whole mindset of it—you are in the trenches. You’ve got to have that dawg mentality. It’s a battle between o-line and d-line snap after snap. None of that soft stuff is going to work, so we are making sure mentally they are prepared—that they go in there and protect Kellen (Mond) or Zach Calzada, whoever the quarterback is, with their life.
Fadil Diggs: This guy is a player. The only question is, how much of a disadvantage was playing in New Jersey? He dominated there. Would he have dominated to the same extent in Texas? Regardless, he’d be in the top 20. You do what he did on both offense and defense and it’s automatic.
Muhsin Muhammad: He’s not a dominating force like the three guys in the top 10. That doesn’t mean he’s not a really good player. He is definitely that. A very smooth route runner with great hands and better speed than most people give him credit for. Another guy would likely be in the top 20.
Isaiah Raikes: Relentless. Not the most talented guy, but no quit to him. Think of him as a more faster and more talented Kirby Ennis (and Kirby was very good for a couple years). He had a better 5-Star Challenge and senior year than Vernon Broughton, so he would probably be around 27.
Deondre Jackson: All-State in Georgia ain’t shabby. He’d be one of the better backs in-state for 2020, but that would still put him in the low 40s.
Chris Morris: Best guard in the nation with the talent to play (and likely end up at) tackle at a high level. That pushes him in to the top 10.
Donell Harris: Could have the most upside of any defensive player in the class, considering he was originally a 2021 prospect. I love his game, especially his speed. I think he would probably be in the back half of the top 10. No lower than 11.
Antonio Doyle: Man, A&M cleaned up in this class to the point where it’s tough to even place these guys. Of course, it would look different if other teams had their players from out of state in the 100, but A&M’s guys could force their way into every slot. Doyle is right there for top 10 consideration again.
Josh Moten: I little shorter than some corners, but outstanding in coverage. DC area football has gotten really good over the past several years, so there wouldn’t be much dropoff. Probably in the low-to-mid 20s.
Antonio Johnson: For my money, the best safety in the class. Certainly the most athletic. There’s a big falloff after the top four in-state guys (IMO), so he could end up at 5. Yes, I’m big on his upside.
Edgerrin Cooper: Still a little bit thin, but really fast and the top linebacker in Louisiana. That’s not a bad thing to be. This may be low, but the lower teens seems about right.
Dallas Walker: Kind of a tweeer at this point, a Kingsley Keke-ish player. Not big enough to dominate on the inside yet, but not quite fast enough to bust through the line. But he’s strong and smart. Probably late 30s, early 40s.
McKinnley Jackson: I his upside, but he’s been a little hit or miss in terms of effort. But physically, he’s a beast and has that quick first step like Daylon Mack did. But he’s bigger. So in the 12-15 range.
Darvon Hubbard: A solid producer, but with his weight fluctuating it’s not clear if he’s a power back or a scatback. He will probably end up being the former, but we’ll see. I’d put him in the late 40s, early 50s.
If all of your out-of-state recruits would end up in the top half of the Texas top 100...yeah, you recruited really well.
RB Coach update
Not much to report on this one at the moment. They’re playing it close to the vest and, compared to the other jobs that have come open, slowly. I have heard that it’s a wide net being cast, including some possible looks at NFL running back coaches. That would be an interesting one, and kind of out of character for Jimbo Fisher.
Why Tyree Wilson may be leaving and Max Wright may be moving
It was a little bit of a surprise to see Tyree Wilson’s name pop up in the transfer portal yesterday, but it wasn’t a shock to see a defensive end. I just expected another one. I’ve also heard the rumors about the possibility of Max Wright moving to fullback. I can’t confirm that one yet (I would guess we’ll know March 23), but it’s not an insane proposition. It would be a disappointing one for me, because I thought Wright looked really good at end last summer and was really impressive against Clemson before he got hurt. But if both guys want to see the field, this may be the best option.
Simply put, the Aggies have a lot of talent at defensive end and, barring cataclysmic injuries, not everyone is going to get a lot of snaps.
Right now, A&M has three starting defensive ends: Tyree Johnson, Micheal Clemons and DeMarvin Leal. Clemons and Johnson would be the guys on the field against pass first offenses, with Leal likely inside; Leal and Clemons get the call against run-first teams.
If the Aggies want to get after the passer, then they can use Johnson, Donell Harris, Jeremiah Martin or Fadil Diggs. They could get three on the field by using two as a regular end and stand the third up as an edge rusher. Martin was used in this role a lot last year, but wasn’t very effective. Top recruit two years ago or not, he really needs to step up his game.
That still leaves Braedon Mowry out, unless he forces his way onto the field, and RJ Orebo gets more time to develop. With the exception of Clemons, that whole cast of characters could return, with more additions, in 2021.
Courtney's Tidbits
“Footwork King”, seen on twitter as @footwork_king1, and otherwise known as Rischad Whitfield, has trained some of the most elite talent in the NFL, college and in the high school ranks. He is working with several Aggies and talks with AY about some of the newest additions to A&M’s roster, their training and the process.
Demond Demas:
Demond is like my baby—he is with me so much and around me to the point where I know him and work well with him. Him and I will be going real hard in May. I know when it’s time to start really grinding and grinding with him. I have the routes he will be doing at A&M and the playbook so we will be going through that. With Demond I focus on the stuff that he is weak at. People see Demond and know he is great, but Demond likes to do things that he is already good at, that he has been blessed with. He can run faster than everybody. He can jump higher than everybody. He can’t ride off that. When I work with Demond we work a lot on releases off the line of scrimmage; he’s a bigger receiver so he wont do much finesse type stuff, but I want him to have a quick first step; we work on hand fighting—defensive backs love to put their hands on you. Demond is a real aggressive kid as it is, so I am working with him making sure he has the right leverage—make sure db’s cant push him off his route. We work on route running. He is a tall receiver—he doesn’t come out of his break as quickly and fluently as I like and that he needs to be at the next level, so we work on that. We are making sure he is a tight and precise route runner; that he is getting in and out of his breaks quickly and efficiently. We also work on quick catching drills. Sometimes he likes to run up the field before he catches the ball fully, so we make sure he has clean catches and hooking the ball in. As far as the mental part of the game, I don’t have to install that in him—like be aggressive and attack the ball—because he has that personality already. I remind him to be humble, but other than that he plays with a high confidence.
Offensive Lineman Smart Chibuzo and Aki Ogunbiyi:
Footwork is the foundation for lineman. They are big guys. They have got to be able to move laterally and directionally and quickly. That’s part of the reason of what’s going on with the A&M o-line right now. These edge rushers are coming off the edge and these defensive tackles are so athletic and so quick that a lot of these guys just don’t move as well as those guys. For instance when A&M played LSU-- I think it was Colton Prater (it was Dan Moore) who might have been the left tackle I believe—K’Lavon (Chaisson) would take him out wide and then make an inside move, but Colton was quick enough to counter his move. You’ve got to match his movement, so I’ve been working with them on that big time. Making sure these guys don’t have heavy feat, balance, good body control, but really making sure their foot speed and footwork is quick and controlled. Coach Brandon Jordan is another trainer working with me, he played o-line, and he is working on them with technique and fundamentals at the o-line position. He also trains all these awesome pass rushing guys, so he is giving them the inside on what to do if a guy does this or if a defensive tackle does that. They are working on details like angles; how they have their hands and the way they shift their hands. Aki and Smart have really been getting the best from both worlds. Then there is also the whole mindset of it—you are in the trenches. You’ve got to have that dawg mentality. It’s a battle between o-line and d-line snap after snap. None of that soft stuff is going to work, so we are making sure mentally they are prepared—that they go in there and protect Kellen (Mond) or Zach Calzada, whoever the quarterback is, with their life.
