Plus or Minus: The depth chart says Texas A&M will be better in 2016

A successful football team takes a perfect marriage of ability, experience, desire and cohesion.

Of course, some football teams — like some marriages — are more successful than others.

One may have an X-factor. The other may have ex factor. One may fight to the end. For the other, the fights may never end.

One uses the shotgun. Come to think of it, the other sometimes starts with one, too. One started with a ring. The other aims to end with one.

Marriage is taken for better or worse. That’s an issue for football teams, too. Typically, they either get better or worse from season-to-season.

So, as Texas A&M continues in spring football drills seeking that perfect unity of ability, experience, desire and cohesion, let’s take a position-by-position look at the areas in which the Aggies could be better or worse. Status quo is not an option.

Quarterback (better): On the surface it would seem the Aggies would be worse. They’re counting on either Trevor Knight, who played sparingly at Oklahoma last season, or Jake Hubenak, who has started one game for A&M. The standard isn’t that high, though.

Seriously, neither Kyle Allen nor Kyler Murray had strong showings in 2015. Allen had a good second half vs. Arkansas and a good first half vs. Mississippi State. The rest of his season was quite mundane. The same goes for Murray, who looked real good against South Carolina’s inept defense but threw more interceptions than touchdown passes.

Knight had some bright moments at OU in 2014. Hubenak played well after a slow start in the Music City Bowl. There is reason for optimism there. Look at it this way: a mere two pick-sixes against Alabama would be an improvement.

Running back (worse): Depth will be improved, but a running game usually revolves around a featured back. Transfer Keith Ford figures to be featured even though he rushed for just 500 yards in two seasons at Oklahoma.

Recall, the last running back to transfer here turned out to be a good cornerback.

Expect Ford to produce much more than Brandon Williams did at running back. Expecting Ford — or anyone else — to match the 1,165 yards that Carson gained might be overly ambitious.

Receivers (better): Christian Kirk was great as a true freshman. He should be even better as a sophomore. Josh Reynolds has proven himself a big-play threat over two seasons. Ricky Seals-Jones had a break-though year in 2015. His upside is enormous. Speedy Noil has as much ability as any. Look for him to start realizing more of his vast potential.

Offensive line (better): Frankly, the line wasn’t that good last season, so the bar isn’t that high. Avery Gennesy was really good at left tackle and should be better in his second year as a starter. Keaton Sutherland was good enough to start as a true freshman. He’ll be better as a sophomore, whether he plays at guard or tackle.

Guard play left much to be desired last season. The combination of a more experienced Sutherland, Jermaine Eluemunor and/or Connor Lanfear should be at least as effective. Replacing three-year starter Mike Matthews at center is a concern, but Erik McCoy is bigger and has Jim Turner coaching him.

Indeed, Turner’s presence alone is enough reason to anticipate the Aggies' offensive line to be better in run blocking and allow fewer than the 37 sacks A&M surrendered in ’15.

Defensive line (better): Ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall combined for 19.5 sacks last season. Heck, Garrett might get that total by himself. They’ll both be better against the run, too. Last year’s starting defensive tackles Julian Obioha and Alonzo Williams were solid. This year’s likely starters – Daylon Mack and Kingsley Keke — could be spectacular. Mack spent almost as much time in opposing backfields as the running backs. They figure to make the giant step from freshman contributors to consistent sophomores.

Depth is a concern, but if healthy the A&M line could evolve into one of the best in the country. Really.

Linebackers (better): Well, it couldn’t get any worse. The return of Otaro Alaka from injury should guarantee improvement of the strong side. Richard Moore showed tremendous promise on the weak side. The middle is a headache, especially with injuries forcing A.J. Hilliard to retire.

Oft-injured Josh Walker could be the answer if he can stay healthy. Maybe Claude George will make giant strides in his second year as a junior college transfer. The Aggies could even wait on true freshman Tyrel Dodson. If worse comes to worst, Alaka could move inside. The Aggies could play middle by committee.

Count on John Chavis to get the problem solved at least to some degree.

Secondary (better): Safeties Armani Watts, Justin Evans and Donovan Wilson are as good as any set in the SEC. There is some unknown element at cornerback, but Chavis is on record saying that position will be just as good as last year and deeper. UCLA transfer Priest Willis and junior Nick Harvey, who played quite a bit in the second half of last season, figure to be a solid set of corners.

Kicking game (worse): You can’t lose All-SEC punter Drew Kaser and All-SEC kicker Taylor Bertolet and expect to be better. That’s especially true when their likely replacements — Shane Tripucka and Daniel LaCamera — have virtually no collegiate experience. However, the return team could be even more dangerous with Kirk and Noil back deep on punts and kickoffs.

A&M actually projects to be improved to various degrees in most areas. Although that doesn’t guarantee anything, it does allow for optimism that A&M will have that good marriage of ability, experience, desire and cohesion.

Some may even think the Aggies can be good enough to post eight or nine victories in 2016.

I do.