Countdown to National Signing Day: Texas A&M Aggies

[caption id="attachment_21673" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Mary Scott McNabb Photo by Mary Scott McNabb[/caption] National Signing Day is Feb. 3. We’ll take a look at each recruiting class from the 12 FBS football programs in Texas as the day approaches. Texas A&MRivals.com rank: 14^thOverview Texas A&M sits at 19 commitments entering the home stretch of the 2016 recruiting cycle. The Aggies don’t have a single five-star commitment, but have nine four-star and 10 three-star pledges with less than three weeks to go until prospects can sign National Letters of Intent. Head coach Kevin Sumlin isn’t scared to go out-of-state for prospects and 2016 is no different. Five of his commitments, so over 25 percent of his class, are from different states. A&M has commitments from two players in Tennessee and three in Louisiana. This class is offense-heavy right now. Only six of the commitments play defense. Texas A&M has three commitments from wide receivers, two from running backs and five from offensive linemen. Add a tight end and a kicker and that leaves the Aggies with three defensive ends, three defensive backs and a linebacker committed to the school. Strengths Texas A&M produced three straight first-round NFL draft picks along the offensive line and it may add a fourth in the upcoming draft. It was Mike Sherman who recruited those players to Texas A&M, but it is Sumlin who can use that history to help recruit at offensive line. He did a great job of that this cycle with five commitments from offensive linemen. The leaders of the pack are the Anderson twins out of Mineola. It’ll be a big jump for Austin and Riley Anderson, going from Mineola to College Station, but both are projected as quality offensive linemen in college. The Aggies also have commitments from four-star offensive tackle Kellen Diesch and Klein Oak’s Ryan McCollum to go along with an out-of-state commitment from Colton Prater. Needs Sumlin didn’t expect quarterback to be a need in 2016. The transfers of Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray put a wrench in that plan. The Aggies hold one of the top commitments in 2017 with quarterback Tate Martell out of Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, but no quarterback is committed to Texas A&M in the 2016 recruiting class. Sumlin may be forced to look at the JUCO ranks or find a transfer to help build depth at quarterback. Another need is linebacker. Texas A&M has struggled at linebacker since joining the SEC and Sumlin hasn’t found many on the recruiting trail this cycle. The lone linebacker committed is Tyrel Dodson, a Tennessee product. Top Player Cibolo Steele defensive end Mark Jackson is a four-star recruit who put on a show at the Army All-American Game in San Antonio. No one could block him all week in practice, which is something Texas high school offensive linemen dealt with for years. Jackson isn’t the biggest guy at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, but he makes up for that with quickness. His first step off the edge is electric and he does a good job using his hands to create separation and gain the corner on offensive tackles.