Eric Cuffee

On Sunday Kevin Sumlin and the Aggies wrapped up their biggest visit weekend of the 2016 recruiting cycle. Meanwhile, a few visits taking place — or not taking place — elsewhere were also of interest. How did it affect Texas A&M's possible recruiting finish?

- To get things started, Jeff Banks and the Aggies are still very much in the thick of things with both Irvin Smith and Thaddeus Moss. Just two weeks after Smith was on the verge of decommitting and opening up his recruitment, the Ags have clawed their way back and still hold the four-star talent's pledge. He'll be visiting Alabama this weekend but the Aggies have already been in-house this week and will be there again next week, with none other than DC John Chavis joining the A&M entourage. The thought here is that Chief's presence will go a long way with the Smith family, who are all very familiar with Chavis from his incredibly successful run in Baton Rouge. Texas Longhorn TE/ST coach Jeff Traylor was in-house with Smith tonight, as the Horns remain a head-scratching thorn in A&M's side in this one.As for Moss, he's visiting N.C. State this weekend and, per everything I've heard, the in-state Wolfpack are the Ags' real competition here. How serious a threat are the Aggies to swoop in and steal one of North Carolina's top prospects? Jeff Banks and Noel Mazzone will be in-house on Thursday, and the head coach himself will meet with Thaddeus' legendary NFL father, Randy Moss, at some point this week or next for his head coach's visit.The desperate need here is for the Aggies to sign one tight end but it's no secret that they'd prefer to ink two in their attempt to fully address the requirement at the position. As far as I'm concerned, signing one of the two NFL legacies two weeks from tonight would qualify as a win for Banks and the Ags.- Langham Creek WR Quartney Davis started the week considering visiting A&M this weekend instead of the final weekend before Signing Day but instead will stick with his original plan of tripping to Oxford this weekend before wrapping up the process with his official to Aggieland. All signs continue to point to Davis re-committing and ultimately signing with the Aggies.In related news, the Ags have all but moved on the Tyrie Cleveland recruitment. Barring a major change of course, A&M seems more than content to focus all of their remaining in-state efforts at the position on getting Davis back into the fold.- Jeff Banks was in house with Saguaro CB Byron Murphy last night and the four-star corner also had a lengthy phone conversation with Aggie DC John Chavis. As it stands today, the Aggies are still in the ring throwing punches but all indications are that the talented cover man and longtime target is likely to stay in-state and play for the Sun Devils.- Long Beach Poly WR/ATH Jack Jones is actually still in play, though most insiders believe he's USC-bound. Aggie coaches were by the school on Tuesday and are working hard to pull off the last-second West Coast steal. While I would still call this one a longshot, Jones is still interested enough in the Ags to host Banks in-home two weeks from NSD and has yet to tell the Aggies that he's looking in another direction.A late add to the weekend visit list is actually a second four-star wideout from California: Bishop Amat's Tyler Vaughns. The 6-1, 180-pounder is considered a top five WR in the country and is committed to USC but has decided to make a very late visit to College Station. Vaughns was scheduled to check out Alabama this weekend but is instead tripping to Aggieland. The longest of longshots and highly likely to stick with the Trojans, but the Aggies will gladly see if they can work some Signing Day magic here.- The news out of the San Antonio area today isn't quite as positive surrounding Cibolo Steele DE Mark Jackson. The longtime A&M pledge has been having second thoughts while entertaining Big 12 coaches for weeks now and, per multiple sources close to his recruitment, is a serious flight risk to either Texas or Oklahoma. That's a change from what we've been hearing since Jackson returned from his visit to Texas on Sunday. The Ags' hope here lies in the fact that John Chavis, Terry Price and Co. will get him on campus this weekend, where he'll be reunited with fellow DL commit Justin Madubuike for the weekend in College Station. Despite holding Mark's pledge, I think it's fair to say that the Aggies have significant ground to make up here after seeing momentum slide in the direction of the Longhorns and Sooners. Baylor, who sent Phil Bennett to the school on Wednesday, is also still lurking in the picture and the Big 12 schools are really working overtime to convince Jackson to skip this weekend's visit altogether. Personally, I think this comes down to whether Mark makes it to campus this weekend or not. If he comes to College Station, the thought here is that Chief, T.P. and Kevin Sumlin can exorcise any 'instability' or 'the SEC is a running league so you won't be able to rush the passer as much' ghosts that the likes of Vance Bedford, Phil Bennett and Mike Stoops (no, I'm serious, that's part of what they're selling) have planted in Mark's mind if they get him in for his OV. While I'm normally not one to read into these type of things, I do find the timing of Jackson removing "Texas A&M commitment" from his twitter profile this evening to be interesting (not to mention reason for serious concern for Sumlin and the Aggies). Frankly, I'd consider it pretty shocking if a young man committed to the Ags for months would bail this late without so much as officially visiting the campus. Let's see how this one plays out between now and Friday.- Here's where the Aggies currently stand at corner: The need is to add one more name to the commit list before Signing Day. If you were to ask me at this specific point in time who the Ags lead for with exactly two weeks until the ink dries, I could not give you a name.That said, the Aggies could very well host Eric Cuffee, four-star cover man Kristian Fulton and LSU commits Eric Monroe, Cameron Lewis and Greedy Williams between now and NSD. For all intents and purposes, the Ags would be ecstatic if they're able to sign one member of this particular group. You could also throw Byron Murphy into the same mix. Cuffee is leaning hard Texas' way and may not even remain uncommitted long enough to visit Aggieland next weekend, Fulton is a longshot and the other three are currently committed to the Bayou Bengals. With rumors simmering that longtime Tiger DBs coach Corey Raymond may be heading to Florida, Monroe's flirtation with A&M being modest yet ongoing and the Williams planning to come to town with his brother, OSU commit Rodarius "Lee" Williams, it wouldn't qualify as a shock if Terry Joseph were able to hit on one more corner before February 3 and round out an outstanding three-man haul at the position.- Just a very quick update on 'On an Island' star Brandon Jones: The Nacogdoches safety is still scheduled to be at Arkansas this weekend and Baylor the final weekend before Signing Day. He's now also considering squeezing in a mid-week visit to TCU sometime in between the two. That's not the news the Ags would like to hear, as they'd love nothing more than (and will continue to work towards) getting the five-star safety back on campus one more time between now and next Sunday. Contrary to reports suggesting otherwise, A&M is still very much in the picture here but the Longhorns and Bears have forced their way in the door and are now sitting comfortably on the couch with Ol' Sarge.- No new developments on Argyle Liberty Christian QB Nick Starkel, which is great news for the Aggies. As I said yesterday, I'm expecting good news in the immediate future from the strong-armed QB.- Sources close to the recruitment are starting to sound increasingly confident about the Ags' chances of flipping Manvel RB D'Vaughn Pennamon. The Ole Miss commit will be in Oxford this weekend, so the post-visit temperature check will tell the tale on this one but I continue to hear good things about A&M keeping the Houston-area speedster close to home. Landing Pennamon took on added importance on Wednesday after recent A&M offer Darius Anderson of George Ranch announced a TCU commitment and rumors continue to swirl that Stratford's Rakeem Boyd still has significant hurdles to clear.- While Silsbee OL Patrick Hudson could still sneak in an A&M visit next week or weekend, I'm comfortable calling this a Baylor-Texas battle. The Horns brought out the big guns this weekend when they trotted Vince Young out there and also had well-known Longhorn supporter/Silsbee native Mark Henry in tow for Hudson's mid-week trip to Austin. Again, the Ags are playing from way behind here and might not even get a shot to step up to the plate.- Don't count the Ags out for McDonogh 35 defensive athlete Clifford Chattman (he's a lot like Justin Dunning but probably plays a more physical style suited for LB once he fills out his 6-4, 190-pound frame). The Ags were in-house on Tuesday and will host the one-time LSU pledge next weekend. Chattman will be at Florida State this weekend and saw Arizona on 1/15.- Quick note on Rummel CB Kristian Fulton. The five-star cover man hosted Arkansas coaches in advance of his weekend visit to Fayetteville on Tuesday. Terry Joseph was in-house on Wednesday, working to convince the gifted cornerback prospect to give Aggieland an official look instead. We'll follow up today to see where Fulton stands in terms of his remaining visit schedule.- Aldine Davis LB Jeffrey McCulloch (who hosted Stanford HC David Shaw in-house on Wednesday) cancelling his Alabama visit should certainly help the Aggies' cause but tthe primary reason the four-star 'backer pushed up his A&M visit and made it an official was because the Tide asked McCulloch to push his scheduled Bama visit back. Instead, 'The Shark' decided to cancel his plans to see Tuscaloosa and will instead give the Ags an official look before likely deciding on the Aggies and Longhorns. I'm not saying Notre Dame and Stanford aren't still players here but the smart money is still on McCulloch wearing Maroon & White or Burnt Orange.- Here's a realistic, high-quality close-out for the Aggies that would involve A&M winning some and losing some down the stretch. This is far from a prediction on how Kevin Sumlin and his staff will finish but rather an example of what a strong run to Signing Day could look like for the Maroon & White. Read and discuss:QB- Nick StarkelRB - DeVaughn PennamonTE - Irv Smith* OR Thaddeus MossWR - Quartney DavisDE - Mark Jackson*DT - Chris Daniels OR D'Andre Christmas-GilesATH - Clifford ChathamCB - Any single member of the five-man groupAnd, finally, either LB Jeffrey McCulloch or S Brandon Jones. Obviously, the Aggies would love to and are working their collective asses off to land both. For the sake of keeping this a win some/lose some proposition, let's give the Ags a split when it comes to their two most coveted remaining targets on D.

On the other side of a key weekend of visits, a few heated battles have cleared up while others seem only murkier. Among the priority targets Texas A&M continues to chase, who lies within reach and how can the Aggies close it out?