2019 recruiting remains interesting
The Aggies have a couple of spots left in the 2019 class at most. And it appears they’re really focusing on three players, along with current commits Braedon Mowry and Josh Ellison. Those three are Amite, La. ATH Devonta Lee, Spring Dekaney CB Marcus Banks and North Forest OL Javonne Shepherd.
As Fletch mentioned yesterday, Lee is the real prize in the eyes of the staff. If they can get him, it’s a big deal. But he will also be the toughest to get, for several reasons. First is the most obvious: he’s a Louisiana guy with an LSU offer that’s still commitable. He also wants to play wideout, while the Aggies want him as a linebacker. They seem him as a more athletic Christian Harris (and Harris is plenty athletic). That brings us to problem two: he wants to be a wideout, and Kentucky, like LSU, is willing to let him play it. Lee is going to official and he really does like College Station, but it’ll be a tough sell.
Banks is widely considered to be heading to A&M if he hasn’t signed already and done so quietly. He will announce Jan. 5 and if he picks the Aggies, they will have their best corner haul in 20 years (at least). He had a great senior year and probably would be heading to LSU had they not screwed up and sent him his official offer before they were allowed to, forcing them to seriously cut back contact. He was big on A&M anyway before that, so LSU’s SNAFU seems to be A&M’s gain.
The mercurial Shepherd is a tough one to decide on. Talent-wise, he is an absolute take, but his attitude and potential grade issues are concerns. Even though they struggled to sign offensive linemen in this class, Texas seems perfectly willing to let him go. Remember, a month ago A&M was done with him and we said he’d have to mend some fences to get back into the mix. It looks like he has done so (which may be part of Texas’ annoyance) and is allegedly visiting Jan. 11 — with Kenyon Green coming with him. Personally, I’ll believe it when I see it and think A&M would have to do some real soul-searching to take him.
As for Mowry and Ellison — I don’t think they’d cut either loose, and would only drop Mowry if there was no way he qualifies. He may not get a lot of discussion, but he had a superb 2018 season and is a real threat as a pass rusher. So how do they get to add more than one guy? They answer could be the ever-elusive Greyshirt for Ellison, who lives in town anyway. He really wants to be at A&M and they want him, so that could be the answer. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Injury bug rather rude
A&M has avoided major injuries on defense all year, but not for the bowl. Both Otaro Alaka (wrist surgery) and Donovan Wilson (hernia surgery) have seen their Aggie careers come to an abrupt end. A&M has some replacements they're ok with, but it's definitely a big loss.
Buddy Johnson, who backed up both Alaka and Tyrel Dodson during the season, will get the start. Braden White, who played pretty well in limited time late in the season, will be the backup. At safety, the trio of Deshawn Capers-Smith, Keldrick Carper and Leon O'Neal will probably rotate in Wilson's place. in the case of O'Neal, that's a positive. He played some against Alabama when Wilson was ejected, but Tua targeted him and got him on a couple of big plays. When Wilson was out against Mississippi State, Capers-Smith and Carper played and O'Neal didn't. Now, he's back in the rotation and appears to be one of the freshmen who Jimbo was talking about earlier this week when he said a few had re-opened some eyes and reminded the staff why they recruited them.
Could A&M finally get back in at North Shore? (Fletch)
I spoke with Zach Evans, Damieon George, and Shadrach Banks after their dramatic win against Duncanville in the state championship game. For the most part, the North Shore players were just too shocked to comment a lot on recruiting so I will combine them all to one article with quotes using their initials.
Overall thoughts on game
ZE: “I could have done better, I did not have my best game, but I made sure I was a team player and made sure to help the team get the big win.”
DG: “It could have been a better performance by us. I am just happy to get the big win though.”
SB: “I did well tonight, but the team did better.”
Have you been hearing a lot from A&M?
SB: “Yeah A&M has been talking to our coaches about all of our team a lot. They want all of us at A&M.”
DG: ”Coach Turner talks to me often checking in on me and wants me to know that they really want me at A&M.”
ZE: “A&M has been talking to our coaches, they have been telling us good luck and all before our games.”
Are you going to the A&M junior day?
ZE: “Oh yeah I plan to go to it with a lot of players at North Shore,”
DG: “I will be there. A&M is really high on my list right now.”
SB: “Yeah I will be at their junior day.”
Thoughts on it being a very long time since a North Shore player committed to Texas A&M?
DG: “If one player commits from North Shore commits to A&M, I think A&M could get four or five players into North Shore.”
Other state championship notes:
Longview 2020 quarterback Hayes King opened eyes with his performance in the state title win over Beaumont West Brook. He showed a lot of grit in the big win. King has not looked into his recruitment at all, but plans a few junior day visits to Baylor and possibly Arkansas. King wants to play in the SEC and it would not be a big shock to see King get a junior day invite to A&M.
North Shore 2021 quarterback Dematrius Davis would attend A&M’s junior day if invited. I could see A&M making him their top QB prospect for 2021.
I sensed a different vibe at the state championships than I did the last few years. I saw a lot more A&M gear on sidelines especially within the Houston schools there. It reminded me of the stories I heard from Jackie Sherrill days.
Aggies in the top 3 for 4-star 2020 CB (Courtney)
Early National Signing Day for the 2019 class is in the books, and it has the 2020 class making moves.
Lancaster, TX 2020 four-star cornerback Lorando Johnson took to Twitter on Thursday announcing his top three, Texas A&M is among three of the SEC schools to make the cut.
“After much consideration, long thoughts and talking it over with my parents I’ve decided to narrow my decision down to three,” said the 6-foot-1, 176- pound prospect.
Texas A&M is joined in the top three by Arkansas and LSU; both of which the Aggies defeated in the 2018 season. The Aggies also finished ahead of both programs in the 2019 team recruiting rankings for the early signing period; No. 3 - Texas A&M, No. 4 - LSU and No. 13 Arkansas.
At this time the Aggies biggest completion between the two other finalists is LSU.
The Aggies beat out other in-state schools such as TCU, Baylor and SMU. Other schools that offered include the likes of Kansas State, Ole Miss, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and several others.
Johnson made the biggest jump in the Rivals rankings , because of his length and quickness at the cornerback position. His national ranking is No. 111; position ranking No. 13 and state No. 14.
For the 2018 season Johnson was named a second-team all-district selection.
The Aggies have a couple of spots left in the 2019 class at most. And it appears they’re really focusing on three players, along with current commits Braedon Mowry and Josh Ellison. Those three are Amite, La. ATH Devonta Lee, Spring Dekaney CB Marcus Banks and North Forest OL Javonne Shepherd.
As Fletch mentioned yesterday, Lee is the real prize in the eyes of the staff. If they can get him, it’s a big deal. But he will also be the toughest to get, for several reasons. First is the most obvious: he’s a Louisiana guy with an LSU offer that’s still commitable. He also wants to play wideout, while the Aggies want him as a linebacker. They seem him as a more athletic Christian Harris (and Harris is plenty athletic). That brings us to problem two: he wants to be a wideout, and Kentucky, like LSU, is willing to let him play it. Lee is going to official and he really does like College Station, but it’ll be a tough sell.
Banks is widely considered to be heading to A&M if he hasn’t signed already and done so quietly. He will announce Jan. 5 and if he picks the Aggies, they will have their best corner haul in 20 years (at least). He had a great senior year and probably would be heading to LSU had they not screwed up and sent him his official offer before they were allowed to, forcing them to seriously cut back contact. He was big on A&M anyway before that, so LSU’s SNAFU seems to be A&M’s gain.
The mercurial Shepherd is a tough one to decide on. Talent-wise, he is an absolute take, but his attitude and potential grade issues are concerns. Even though they struggled to sign offensive linemen in this class, Texas seems perfectly willing to let him go. Remember, a month ago A&M was done with him and we said he’d have to mend some fences to get back into the mix. It looks like he has done so (which may be part of Texas’ annoyance) and is allegedly visiting Jan. 11 — with Kenyon Green coming with him. Personally, I’ll believe it when I see it and think A&M would have to do some real soul-searching to take him.
As for Mowry and Ellison — I don’t think they’d cut either loose, and would only drop Mowry if there was no way he qualifies. He may not get a lot of discussion, but he had a superb 2018 season and is a real threat as a pass rusher. So how do they get to add more than one guy? They answer could be the ever-elusive Greyshirt for Ellison, who lives in town anyway. He really wants to be at A&M and they want him, so that could be the answer. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Injury bug rather rude
A&M has avoided major injuries on defense all year, but not for the bowl. Both Otaro Alaka (wrist surgery) and Donovan Wilson (hernia surgery) have seen their Aggie careers come to an abrupt end. A&M has some replacements they're ok with, but it's definitely a big loss.
Buddy Johnson, who backed up both Alaka and Tyrel Dodson during the season, will get the start. Braden White, who played pretty well in limited time late in the season, will be the backup. At safety, the trio of Deshawn Capers-Smith, Keldrick Carper and Leon O'Neal will probably rotate in Wilson's place. in the case of O'Neal, that's a positive. He played some against Alabama when Wilson was ejected, but Tua targeted him and got him on a couple of big plays. When Wilson was out against Mississippi State, Capers-Smith and Carper played and O'Neal didn't. Now, he's back in the rotation and appears to be one of the freshmen who Jimbo was talking about earlier this week when he said a few had re-opened some eyes and reminded the staff why they recruited them.
Could A&M finally get back in at North Shore? (Fletch)
I spoke with Zach Evans, Damieon George, and Shadrach Banks after their dramatic win against Duncanville in the state championship game. For the most part, the North Shore players were just too shocked to comment a lot on recruiting so I will combine them all to one article with quotes using their initials.
Overall thoughts on game
ZE: “I could have done better, I did not have my best game, but I made sure I was a team player and made sure to help the team get the big win.”
DG: “It could have been a better performance by us. I am just happy to get the big win though.”
SB: “I did well tonight, but the team did better.”
Have you been hearing a lot from A&M?
SB: “Yeah A&M has been talking to our coaches about all of our team a lot. They want all of us at A&M.”
DG: ”Coach Turner talks to me often checking in on me and wants me to know that they really want me at A&M.”
ZE: “A&M has been talking to our coaches, they have been telling us good luck and all before our games.”
Are you going to the A&M junior day?
ZE: “Oh yeah I plan to go to it with a lot of players at North Shore,”
DG: “I will be there. A&M is really high on my list right now.”
SB: “Yeah I will be at their junior day.”
Thoughts on it being a very long time since a North Shore player committed to Texas A&M?
DG: “If one player commits from North Shore commits to A&M, I think A&M could get four or five players into North Shore.”
Other state championship notes:
Longview 2020 quarterback Hayes King opened eyes with his performance in the state title win over Beaumont West Brook. He showed a lot of grit in the big win. King has not looked into his recruitment at all, but plans a few junior day visits to Baylor and possibly Arkansas. King wants to play in the SEC and it would not be a big shock to see King get a junior day invite to A&M.
North Shore 2021 quarterback Dematrius Davis would attend A&M’s junior day if invited. I could see A&M making him their top QB prospect for 2021.
I sensed a different vibe at the state championships than I did the last few years. I saw a lot more A&M gear on sidelines especially within the Houston schools there. It reminded me of the stories I heard from Jackie Sherrill days.
Aggies in the top 3 for 4-star 2020 CB (Courtney)
Early National Signing Day for the 2019 class is in the books, and it has the 2020 class making moves.
Lancaster, TX 2020 four-star cornerback Lorando Johnson took to Twitter on Thursday announcing his top three, Texas A&M is among three of the SEC schools to make the cut.
“After much consideration, long thoughts and talking it over with my parents I’ve decided to narrow my decision down to three,” said the 6-foot-1, 176- pound prospect.
Texas A&M is joined in the top three by Arkansas and LSU; both of which the Aggies defeated in the 2018 season. The Aggies also finished ahead of both programs in the 2019 team recruiting rankings for the early signing period; No. 3 - Texas A&M, No. 4 - LSU and No. 13 Arkansas.
At this time the Aggies biggest completion between the two other finalists is LSU.
The Aggies beat out other in-state schools such as TCU, Baylor and SMU. Other schools that offered include the likes of Kansas State, Ole Miss, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and several others.
Johnson made the biggest jump in the Rivals rankings , because of his length and quickness at the cornerback position. His national ranking is No. 111; position ranking No. 13 and state No. 14.
For the 2018 season Johnson was named a second-team all-district selection.
