24 days ago by
Ryan Brauninger
With signing day just over a week away, the search for Texas A&M's prep quarterback in the class of 2025 has continued. While I'm not ready to report that this thing has taken a definitive direction, I have been able to gather some intel that would indicate the scope is narrowing a bit. Since the decommitment of Husan Longstreet, I've been reporting that the Aggies were in a time crunch to go back and scour through senior tape from signal callers within the state. I listed a handful or so of names that included guys like Adam Schobel, Ty Hawkins, Edward Griffin, Lloyd Jones III, Austin Carlisle, and Eli Morcos. The whale of late gets from the Lone Star State was Duncanville's Keelon Russell who has been committed to Alabama since the summer. I can say that the Aggies did, in fact, make the call to the south Dallas standout, but as we anticipated, there was not much traction to be had. Now, of that list above, the quarterback that has received the most attention from what I've been able to gather is Eli Morcos. The Montgomery Lake Creek product spent time on the phone with Collin Klein as well as other A&M staff members late last week, and I believe the communication continued a bit in the following days. From what I understand, those talks were basic "getting to know you" types of conversations. Nothing yet in the way of an offer. I mentioned the 6-2, 210 pounder and his impressive senior tape in my first write up about the position, and it's becoming more evident that folks have taken notice. Intel I received today indicated Oklahoma, who is also in need of a quarterback after Kevin Sperry left their class, has begun making contact in a similar manner with Morcos and his inner circle. There's also murmurs of another SEC school kicking the tires there, but I've received less reliable information on that front. The other scenario at play here is a potential reclassification from 2026 Cocoa (FL) standout Brady Hart. Currently committed to Michigan, there have been a lot of folks in the recruiting world speculating as to how Bryce Underwood's recent flip to the Wolverines would affect a player of Hart's quality. From what I understand, Hart is homeschooled (even though he plays for a public high school. It's the Tim Tebow rule in the state of Florida) so his academic progress has been sped up and makes the reclass option legitimate. If he does choose to graduate early, I think the Aggies (along with LSU and Oklahoma) would be among the main suitors. There are still a lot of moving parts there. I believe Michigan to be keen on keeping him in their fold as their guy in 2026, but I did want to mention this as a possibility if Hart's reclassification becomes anything more than Twitter/message board speculation. His trainer has gone on record earlier this month and said there were no plans to reclassify at that time. Just something to keep an eye on.
TexAgs' TXHSFB Recap: Reviewing our coverage from the area round
The playoffs roll on in the state of Texas as the march to AT&T Stadium has completed its second week. It's time to look back at the TXHSFB highlights that Jason Howell, Ryan Brauninger and Cade Draughon saw during the area round of the playoffs.
Defection from A&M's 2025 recruiting class disturbs smooth waters
Husan Longstreet flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to Southern Cal on Sunday, leaving Mike Elko & Co. without a quarterback in the class of 2025. With signing day a couple of weeks away, here are a few names the Maroon & White could re-engage.
On Husan Longstreet and QB recruiting…
The California based QB called the A&M staff a short time ago to inform them of his flip to USC which has now gone public. After gathering more information, I'm very confident that this came down to a couple of factors. The first one holds the most weight in terms of why the decision was made, and it's the depth chart. Since Marcel Reed became the guy for the Aggies, Lincoln Riley and the Trojans began really selling their path to the field compared to A&M's for Longstreet. USC did not take a quarterback in the 2024 class, and their current signal callers have had serious issues this fall. Their depth chart was always an element to Husan's recruitment that they were trying to utilize when they could, but the emergence of Reed as the starter in Aggieland with 3 more years of eligibility was a key turning point for the Trojan's messaging. Secondly, because the USC QB room is a bit of a mess, the Trojans are motivated to fix it as quickly as possible. In today's college football, I'll let you figure out what that means. Finally, there is the fact that the kid will stay in state and play for a guy that has worked directly with 3 Heisman Trophy winners in recent history. The question for A&M now is where do they go from here with signing day just a couple of weeks away. Based on my latest intel, I do think the staff is doing/will do a deep dive on the in-state crop of signal callers in the coming days. There are probably 4-5 names that will get extensive looks. I think the first call they'll make is to Duncanville standout Keelon Russell who visited Texas A&M a couple of times during last spring. He's been committed to Alabama for a while now, and it's hard to imagine him coming off that pledge. Still, it's worth making the call to see. After that, a few more kids that I could see getting hard looks are Adam Schobel at Columbus (TCU), Ty Hawkins (SMU) who played most of his high school career at San Antonio Johnson before transferring to IMG Academy this year, and Austin Carlisle at Ft Bend Ridge Point (UH). That list is not exhaustive by any means. There are guys like Edward Griffin (Baylor) at Coppell and Lloyd Jones III (Texas Tech) at Hitchcock who have had strong senior campaigns, as well.Regardless, I do think the Texas based quarterbacks are going to be where the search starts.
TexAgs Recruiting Rankings Update 10-24-24
The TexAgs recruiting team met this week to update the rankings as October comes to a close and playoff season nears. We updated the 2025 and 2026 Texas Top 100 lists as well as the 2027 Watch List. Outside the state, we have also updated the rankings of Texas A&M's commitments. Coming into the this update we talked about a few big moves we needed to make to the 2025 rankings. One, DE Tobi Haastrup was far overdue for a spot in the rankings. We last updated the rankings in the preseason when he was largely unknown, and well, the rest of the story is well documented. He lit it up in week 1 and has been impressive ever since, and college offers have been piling up. He arrives at No. 23 with a 92 four-star rating. Two, a couple of in-state Texas A&M commits - Nelson McGuire and Chace Sims - needed to make some significant moves. McGuire showed a lot of promise when he made the move to OL this spring and he was a standout on the camp circuit. In fact his camp performances were enough for us to put him in the top 100 preseason list and he made his debut at No. 63. However, he did not have any game tape at OL and once the tape became available it was clear he needed to make a move up the list. He does and he arrives at No. 31 as a 91 rated four-star and the No. 6 OL in the state and the No. 3 iOL. Sims has been on a steady rise up the list since the spring and this fall he has been a wrecking ball in the trenches for a Randle team that looks primed for a deep run this playoff season. He moves up from 42 to 30. The state's top four spots did not change with five-star standout Dakorien Moore, Michael Fasusi, Devin Sanchez, and Jonah Williams holding down spots 1-4, but a new five-star was added as QB Keelon Russell moves from No. 9 to No. 5. Longhorn commit Lance Jackson moves to No. 6 in the rankings and becomes the No. 1 ranked DL in the state as he continues to impress this fall. Ty Haywood, DJ Sanders, Riley Pettijohn, and Kaliq Lockett round out the top 10. Three prospects are new to the top 20 as Nick Townsend (No. 13), Bo Barnes (No. 16), and Kelshaun Johnson (No. 20) rise up the rankings. Other prospects making significant moves include LB Kaleb Burns (from No. 70 to No. 38), DB Jayden Sanders (from No. 86 to No. 40), WR Ed Small (from No. 99 to No. 64), QB Lloyd Jones III (No. 92 to No. 67), and CB Bryson Webber (from No. 100 to No. 81). Joining Haastrup as new additions to the rankings are Coppell QB Edward Griffin (No. 65), North Crowley LB Jonathan Cunningham (No. 88), Cibolo Steele ATH Sean Robinson (No. 91), Mansfield ATH Jacobe Hayes (No. 99), and North Crowley WR Quentin Gibson (No. 100).TexAgs 2025 Texas Top 100*****************In the 2026 class Jermaine Bishop continues to hold onto the No. 1 ranking while Davian Groce, Tradarian Ball, and John Turntine round out the top four. A couple of OTs jumped into the top 10 with Mansfield Lake Ridge's Felix Ojo and Fort Bend Ridge Point's Avery Morcho arriving at No. 7 and No. 9. Houston Legacy QB Keisean Henderson moves back into the top 10 as the No. 1 QB in the class at No. 10. Duncanville's KJ Ford, Forney's Javian Osborne, and Panther Creek's Jalen Lott maintain their spots in the top 10. The top 20 saw two new faces. Cibolo Steele RB Jonathan Hatton Jr rises to No. 14 and Katy Jordan DE Jimmy-Phrisco Alo-Suliafu arrives at No. 18. Texas A&M commits Markel Ford and Ryan Gilbert check in at No. 20 and No. 40 in the state, both holding four-star rankings. Richardson DL Jaimeon Winfield makes his rankings debut at No. 34. He moved into Richardson this spring from Meridian (MS), and since mid-September he has gone from no offers to holding P4 offers from coast-to-coast. Dallas Lake Highlands RB Christian Rhodes also makes his way into the top 100 at No. 64. He was relegated to JV as a sophomore last fall with senior Deonte Dean putting up big numbers, but the 6-1, 200-pound standout is averaging over 9 yards a carry this fall and is starting to see the offers arrive. New additions Jett Walker (RB Georgetown) and Ayson Theus (WR Duncanville) round out the rankings at No. 99 and 100. TexAgs 2026 Texas Top 100 *********************The 2027 watch list expands to 75 and most of the list is already reeling in big time scholarship offers. The Aggies have already offered 27 members of the list including new additions Kennedy Brown and Kaeden Scott. The offensive skill positions are already setting up to be strong groups with the likes of RBs Landen Williams-Callis, Jakoby Dixon, Lathan Whisenton, and Myson Johnson-Cook, WRs Ethan Feaster, Antayvious Ellis, and Trenton Yancey, and QBs Colton Nussmeier, Kavian Bryant, Weston Nielsen, and Jerry Meyer already making their presence felt on the national level. In the trenches OLs Qua Ford, Brooks and Scott, Jasper Ngokwere, and Brian Swanson along with DLs Khyren Haywood, Amari Vickerson, and Zane Rowe. Beyond the trenches the defensive side also boasts standouts such as CB John Meredith, S Cooper Witten, and LB Braylon Williams.This is an alphabetical list unlike the other two, and there are several more on the list than mentioned above. Click the link to check out the full list.
