Ok, I cannot stress this enough. I like the guys on the other A&M sites, but I want this to stay in here. No reposting. Just know you're smarter than your friends on this stuff.
I'm going to go over virtually every A&M target and commit at the 5-star and a couple more that I heard some info over the past couple of days. Some of it this info has been put up in other posts, but I want to put it in one place.
Vernon Broughton
The Houston area Big DE was thought to be seriously leaning to Texas. That has changed. In fact, Texas is essentially out. Broughton wants to play in a 4-3 defense, and Texas is running a 3-4. I also got the vibe his family has some issues with the Texas coaching staff.
After I left the 5-star today, I went back to the hotel to get my bag and charge my phone. I stuck up a conversation with a very nice lady who turned out to be Vernon's mom. We discussed recruiting a little and it was pretty clear she was all in on Jimbo. She did have some questions about why Elijah Robinson (the DT coach) and Terry Price (the DE coach) were both recruiting Vernon. Jimbo explained the Big DE concept to her, and it seems clear they want him to fill the 2018 Kingsley Keke role of outside end on running downs and moving inside on passing downs. That seemed to be settle her concerns.
A&M and Ohio State are the finalists for him. Vernon told Sam Spiegelman he wants to stay close to home and his mom said the she wants him close to home when we visited. I think that means A&M is sitting in the catbird's seat. They won't make a decision for a few weeks, but this one seems heading very much in A&M's direction -- something I did not anticipate before this week.
Chris Morris
The big Tennessee offensive lineman is looking for a country town and a place where they like hunting and fishing. You've heard all the old stories about recruits being turned off by College Station? Morris likes A&M even more because of College Station.
I asked him point blank if A&M was the choice. He replied, "they know what it is. And so does everyone else." He said that he intends to go up to the top of Kyle Field, commit and let them shoot off fireworks. It may be a few months before he does it, but he clearly seems like he's going A&M's way. He loves Josh Henson. How do I know this? He decided to Facetime Henson while we were talking. That was pretty wild.
Zedrick Van Pran
I thought Akinola Ogunbiyi's return meant curtains for A&M's pursuit of Van Pran and he was off to UGA. I was 100% wrong. As it turns out, A&M is still after him and Ogunbiyi is one of the guys working him hardest to commit!
I asked Van Pran how A&M intends to use him and he said at center, first and foremost. If he doesn't win the center job as a freshman, they'd look to use him at guard. He's a massive guy; size wise, he reminds of Erik McCoy. If he's that successful, someone's going to be very happy.
Isaiah Raikes went up against him a few times today and he said he was impressed. He also said Van Pran is seriously considering A&M, which surprised me. Several A&M commits started getting on him when they saw the A&M wristband he was wearing.
Josh Eaton
When he jumped in my picture with all the commits, every single one of them told him to stop screwing around and commit. Everyone knew where he was going.
When I talked to Josh, he made it very clear that he was going to commit on the anniversary of his Grandmother's passing Aug. 6 and not before. He also raved about A&M (as you could see in the story I posted this morning). I don't think there's any doubt he's going to pick A&M barring a major turn of events. He also said A&M was "going to get that JUCO corner". I asked him if that meant Blinn's Marco Domio, and he said yes. The coaching staff isn't as certain as Eaton is, but they'd be happy to take Eaton and Domio to join Jaylon Jones.
Haynes King
The Longview QB wasn't in Atlanta, but he still made news. I was told today that he will make a commitment decision this week and "before Friday", which I guess means in the next 48 hours. The guys at VolQuest asked for some analysis on him and were told they probably weren't going to need it. Sam Spiegelman and I have heard from two different sources inside the A&M program that the Aggies expect to land him. That would be uuuuge.
Zach Evans
The Aggies aren't in his top 5 -- allegedly. But the A&M commits are pushing him hard and he (and his family) really believe in Jimbo. There's an element of trust there, and I think the Aggies are going to keep going after him all the way to the end. It may not be enough, but A&M is light years ahead of Texas now in this little competition.
Fadil Diggs and Isaiah Raikes
These guys aren't going anywhere. Both want out of New Jersey and, in the end, just didn't like the vibe at Penn State compared to A&M. Diggs went up there last weekend and came away very unimpressed. Now that Raikes has met some more of the A&M commits, I think you're going to see him be a lot more vocal in the recruiting process. I got to talk to him a lot the last couple of days and he's a fantastic young man. A lot of fun.
Noah Sewell
The Utah linebacker is a monster. And he's really, sincerely, interested in Texas A&M. He intends to take an official visit and really talked highly of the people he met in College Station when he took an unofficial visit in the spring. I do not think A&M leads for him, but they do have a legitimate chance. Bradley Dale Peveto needs to live in Utah for a while and keep making A&M's case. (I'm exaggerating, clearly.)
Jaquelin Roy
Virtually everyone at the 5-star got the sense that he's going back to LSU. A&M made a very good run and he likes the program, but he's from Baton Rouge and the pull there is just too strong.
Jaylon Jones
No concerns here. He's 100% solid.
Moose Muhammad
He is absolutely on board with Dameyune Craig. Again, no worries.
Troy Omeire
He loves being part of the nation's top receiver trio and has been turned off by Texas. No concerns.
2021 OL Donovan Jackson
Josh Henson is in his ear, if he's not at his school. The pursuit there is very serious, and there's a lot of mutual interest. Jackson said he's been an A&M fan since he was a little kid (which, terrifyingly, means the Johnny Manziel era), so that should help. I think A&M leads here pretty significantly.
2021 OLs Bryce Foster and Hayden Conner
The Katy Krushers were extremely impressive this week. I don't think they're nearly as far down the road as Jackson is in terms of having favorites, but both mentioned A&M and Texas as being among them. Oklahoma is also in the mix for Foster, and Stanford for Conner. Foster wants to continue to throw the shot put in college, something Jimbo has told him he supports. He hasn't talked to Pat Henry yet, but he could do it for any program in the nation. Conner said he has a huge emphasis on academics, and he wants to study aeronautical engineering. The secondary reasons make me think the Aggies will be very much a factor for both of these guys moving forward. They've also built a rapport with Jackson, so they may want to go to school together.
I'm going to go over virtually every A&M target and commit at the 5-star and a couple more that I heard some info over the past couple of days. Some of it this info has been put up in other posts, but I want to put it in one place.
Vernon Broughton
The Houston area Big DE was thought to be seriously leaning to Texas. That has changed. In fact, Texas is essentially out. Broughton wants to play in a 4-3 defense, and Texas is running a 3-4. I also got the vibe his family has some issues with the Texas coaching staff.
After I left the 5-star today, I went back to the hotel to get my bag and charge my phone. I stuck up a conversation with a very nice lady who turned out to be Vernon's mom. We discussed recruiting a little and it was pretty clear she was all in on Jimbo. She did have some questions about why Elijah Robinson (the DT coach) and Terry Price (the DE coach) were both recruiting Vernon. Jimbo explained the Big DE concept to her, and it seems clear they want him to fill the 2018 Kingsley Keke role of outside end on running downs and moving inside on passing downs. That seemed to be settle her concerns.
A&M and Ohio State are the finalists for him. Vernon told Sam Spiegelman he wants to stay close to home and his mom said the she wants him close to home when we visited. I think that means A&M is sitting in the catbird's seat. They won't make a decision for a few weeks, but this one seems heading very much in A&M's direction -- something I did not anticipate before this week.
Chris Morris
The big Tennessee offensive lineman is looking for a country town and a place where they like hunting and fishing. You've heard all the old stories about recruits being turned off by College Station? Morris likes A&M even more because of College Station.
I asked him point blank if A&M was the choice. He replied, "they know what it is. And so does everyone else." He said that he intends to go up to the top of Kyle Field, commit and let them shoot off fireworks. It may be a few months before he does it, but he clearly seems like he's going A&M's way. He loves Josh Henson. How do I know this? He decided to Facetime Henson while we were talking. That was pretty wild.
Zedrick Van Pran
I thought Akinola Ogunbiyi's return meant curtains for A&M's pursuit of Van Pran and he was off to UGA. I was 100% wrong. As it turns out, A&M is still after him and Ogunbiyi is one of the guys working him hardest to commit!
I asked Van Pran how A&M intends to use him and he said at center, first and foremost. If he doesn't win the center job as a freshman, they'd look to use him at guard. He's a massive guy; size wise, he reminds of Erik McCoy. If he's that successful, someone's going to be very happy.
Isaiah Raikes went up against him a few times today and he said he was impressed. He also said Van Pran is seriously considering A&M, which surprised me. Several A&M commits started getting on him when they saw the A&M wristband he was wearing.
Josh Eaton
When he jumped in my picture with all the commits, every single one of them told him to stop screwing around and commit. Everyone knew where he was going.
When I talked to Josh, he made it very clear that he was going to commit on the anniversary of his Grandmother's passing Aug. 6 and not before. He also raved about A&M (as you could see in the story I posted this morning). I don't think there's any doubt he's going to pick A&M barring a major turn of events. He also said A&M was "going to get that JUCO corner". I asked him if that meant Blinn's Marco Domio, and he said yes. The coaching staff isn't as certain as Eaton is, but they'd be happy to take Eaton and Domio to join Jaylon Jones.
Haynes King
The Longview QB wasn't in Atlanta, but he still made news. I was told today that he will make a commitment decision this week and "before Friday", which I guess means in the next 48 hours. The guys at VolQuest asked for some analysis on him and were told they probably weren't going to need it. Sam Spiegelman and I have heard from two different sources inside the A&M program that the Aggies expect to land him. That would be uuuuge.
Zach Evans
The Aggies aren't in his top 5 -- allegedly. But the A&M commits are pushing him hard and he (and his family) really believe in Jimbo. There's an element of trust there, and I think the Aggies are going to keep going after him all the way to the end. It may not be enough, but A&M is light years ahead of Texas now in this little competition.
Fadil Diggs and Isaiah Raikes
These guys aren't going anywhere. Both want out of New Jersey and, in the end, just didn't like the vibe at Penn State compared to A&M. Diggs went up there last weekend and came away very unimpressed. Now that Raikes has met some more of the A&M commits, I think you're going to see him be a lot more vocal in the recruiting process. I got to talk to him a lot the last couple of days and he's a fantastic young man. A lot of fun.
Noah Sewell
The Utah linebacker is a monster. And he's really, sincerely, interested in Texas A&M. He intends to take an official visit and really talked highly of the people he met in College Station when he took an unofficial visit in the spring. I do not think A&M leads for him, but they do have a legitimate chance. Bradley Dale Peveto needs to live in Utah for a while and keep making A&M's case. (I'm exaggerating, clearly.)
Jaquelin Roy
Virtually everyone at the 5-star got the sense that he's going back to LSU. A&M made a very good run and he likes the program, but he's from Baton Rouge and the pull there is just too strong.
Jaylon Jones
No concerns here. He's 100% solid.
Moose Muhammad
He is absolutely on board with Dameyune Craig. Again, no worries.
Troy Omeire
He loves being part of the nation's top receiver trio and has been turned off by Texas. No concerns.
2021 OL Donovan Jackson
Josh Henson is in his ear, if he's not at his school. The pursuit there is very serious, and there's a lot of mutual interest. Jackson said he's been an A&M fan since he was a little kid (which, terrifyingly, means the Johnny Manziel era), so that should help. I think A&M leads here pretty significantly.
2021 OLs Bryce Foster and Hayden Conner
The Katy Krushers were extremely impressive this week. I don't think they're nearly as far down the road as Jackson is in terms of having favorites, but both mentioned A&M and Texas as being among them. Oklahoma is also in the mix for Foster, and Stanford for Conner. Foster wants to continue to throw the shot put in college, something Jimbo has told him he supports. He hasn't talked to Pat Henry yet, but he could do it for any program in the nation. Conner said he has a huge emphasis on academics, and he wants to study aeronautical engineering. The secondary reasons make me think the Aggies will be very much a factor for both of these guys moving forward. They've also built a rapport with Jackson, so they may want to go to school together.
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