re: Official 2018 Recruiting Thread

It's was Passwaters at Rivals. I know I forget that they still have people on the Aggie beat too.

Met Passwaters once at Reed Arena. One of the weirdest motherfrickers I've ever talked to, like a really awkward dad trying to act cool.

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Another fun rumor I heard last week was that Buechele is strongly considering transferring this year.

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Don’t see why he wouldn’t, he does not fit Herman’s offense of running the QB 15-20 times a game, he would probably light it up at OU but no way they let him go there.

Wtf is a La Grange guy doing at OSU. Perfect Jimbo back

Texas A$M and the state of Texas by Perroni

Texas A&M is in a prime position to establish itself as the state’s top program.

That’s a bold claim but, with my apologies to a very good TCU program, the battle for marquee honors in the state come down to A&M and Texas. They will always be viewed as the two preeminent programs due to history as well as the fact that the Aggies are in the SEC.

With Jimbo Fisher now in College Station, he has become known for his recruiting prowess. Of his past four classes, only one has not been in the national top five - it was No. 6

What is happening in Austin at the moment as well, it is a huge opportunity for Texas A&M to grab the momentum and keep it.

There was excitement about bringing Tom Herman to Austin. A year ago, before he was fired, Charlie Strong said that Texas was a 10-win team ‘no matter who the coach is.’ There is talent on the 40 Acres. After all that excitement, the Horns ended up 6-6 and saved Kliff Kingsbury’s job. They were lucky to get Iowa State before the Cyclones’ quarterback change or they may not have even been bowl eligible.

New coaches can lose. Many times it is expected, especially if the previous coach was fired vs. taking another job. However, if you lose, you better win over the locker room. That has not exactly happened at Texas.

The Longhorns had attrition before the season even started with defensive linemen Jordan Elliott and Chris Daniels, among others. However, that is nothing compared to what is happening now.

Horns247 had to put together a ‘hot board’ to keep track of the possible losses this offseason. OT Connor Williams is gone to the NFL and won’t play in a bowl. RB Chris Warren is transferring after being moved to tight end midseason.What’s more damning, though, is the fact that a player like offensive lineman Jake McMillon – a two-year starter – is graduating and choosing to just walk away rather than play another year. The Longhorns actually have four offensive linemen that are likely not returning despite having eligibility remaining. And that is at a position where Texas has struggled to field healthy bodies.

Then you have potential transfers such as QB Shane Buechele, RB Toneil Carter and WR Devin Duvernay, who are still young and have contributed. There will be others as well.

Eventually, recruits are going to start wondering why these players are leaving. Some may have seen the writing on the wall but they were not all obvious attrition candidates, especially the starters. The fact that players with late-round grounds are likely to declare early for the NFL Draft doesn’t bode well for Texas either. The father of senior WR Armanti Foreman already blasted Herman and Co. this season and you can bet that the players that are leaving will let their feelings be known.

On the field, this will cause some problems. Texas does not have enough bodies on either side of the line and has struggled to recruit those positions in the 2018 class. The depth will be a huge issue next season. At quarterback, if Buechele leaves, Texas better hope Sam Ehlinger does not go down. They either tell him to stop running – which is what makes him dangerous – or brace for the fact that he is likely to miss time and there isn’t much behind him.

Texas hosts USC next year and the Trojans will receive a lot of preseason love. The aforementioned TCU, as well as Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, aren’t going anywhere. Iowa State is improved and there are other teams that could surprise the Horns as well. If Herman goes two seasons with subpar records and keeps running off players, that is not going to bode well for recruiting.

Where does that leave A&M?

A&M plays the past two national champions in a three-game span early next season but, other than that, the schedule is not as daunting as it could be. Nobody is expecting a massive turnaround right away but with a ton of freshmen in the lineup this year, the Aggies will be more experienced next year. If it shows up in the win-loss column, that will give A&M all kinds of momentum with the class of 2019 and beyond.

As for 2018, Texas has the No. 2 class in the country but it's not exactly as good as the Longhorns would have hoped. It is very much heavy on wide receivers and defensive backs as they have done a great job closing on those two positions, especially in a loaded year in the state. However, they have struck out on almost of their top targets on both lines, which are the areas of the most concern. The Longhorns only have one defensive line commit in the class despite going after several top prospects and losing out to both A&M and Oklahoma for them.

Also, A&M did lose a commitment from Leon O'Neal Jr. on Friday but there's still a realistic chance to add him back. Even if not, Fisher has already put the Aggies in position to land some very big-name recruits that they realistically were not going to get before.

Texas is not A&M’s rival anymore…on the field. In recruiting, though, the Longhorns will continue to be the Aggies’ challenger to dominate the landscape in the state. These next 12 months or so could go a very long way towards swaying things in A&M’s favor the way they were for Texas in the Mack Brown vs. Dennis Franchione era.

Lets gooooo

Also Gunnell Wright Blanton and Jalen Curry are currently en route to CS. You would think Curry becomes an A&M commit pretty soon

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Nice touch sending the band out to Easterwood to welcome Jimbo

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I'm sure they would rather do that than march in the Bryan Christmas Parade (where the Aggie Band goes Championship Sunday when they aren't playing at the title game).

"Jimbo to A&M" horns247
This was very similar to UT’s pursuit of Nick Saban in 2013 right down to boosters playing footsy weeeell in advance.

A couple key differences:

- Their power brokers and admin were on the same page from the get-go. Juxtapose the dope on the Aggie BOR practically “firing” Sumlin after the UCLA loss in week-one with Texas letting Mack dictate terms right up until he didn’t with about 30 recruits in front of him in December. Brown was convinced he was returning while Sumlin knew he was out weeks in advance. Well done, Ags.

- Fisher is not Nick Saban. Not close. That makes his contract that much more eye catching. But hey, we live in a time where money and the decision making associated with it has lost a lot of its value.

Near term recruiting impact:

- I expect Terry Price to be retained and that means they’ll keep the DL commits, land Ossai, and make a more credible run at keeping DaShaun White, though I still think it’ll be a UT/OU battle.

- This certainly won’t hurt their efforts to land Jaylen Waddle. That would be a coup

- I’m not sure how much room the Aggie class has left in it. Given his profile and Natty, he might do better with higher profile recruits who had written A&M off but that remains to be seen.

2019 recruiting impact:

- This could be significant but it largely remains to be seen.

- He already has a QB who almost committed to FSU in Grant Gunnell. I suspect together they’ll flip WR Jalen Curry. Fisher and Gunnell should be formidable.

- Texas going 6-6 instead of 9-3 really left the door open.

- The more Aggie staffers he keeps the more familiarity they’ll have with recruits. If they keep Jim Turner on OL that’s going to be a wrench in 2019 recruiting.Texas is probably going to need to be more proactive with the class ahead than it was last year. The early signing period makes that easier, as does the large 2019 class.State dynamics just got a lot more interesting.