Scattershooting the 2018 Texas A&M Football Signing Class: Part 1
With Jimbo Fisher's first recruiting class mostly in the books at Texas A&M, it's time to take a wide view of how the Aggies fared on National Signing Day. Billy Liucci breaks down the class Fisher's staff inked on a short schedule in the first of this two-part series.
Signing Day Predictions and ICYMI Notes
Signing Day is here and it has been a crazy 24 hours, so you may have missed some things. Here's a few notes to catch you guys up.-The Aggies OL class will sign today. Colten Blanton, Luke Matthews, Barton Clement are all planning to sign-Texas commits Keaontay Ingram and Keondre Coburn are not signing tomorrow, and even if it is not directly because of the Aggies it should be seen as a good thing by A&M fans and coaches.-TE Jace Sternberger is solidly committed-CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart is not signing today. He had everyone going with his tweets yesterday but he shut the rumors down last night.-Texas A&M commits DaShaun White and Bobby Brown are not planning to sign earlyNow for some predictions on a few targetsATH Vernon Jackson, Boling - AlabamaTE Dominick Wood-Anderson, Arizona Western - TennesseeDT Mohamed Diallo, Arizona Western - Texas A&MOL Brey Walker, Moore (OK) Westmoore - OklahomaWR Terrace Marshall, Bossier City (OK) Parkway - LSU
Late night Signing Day nuggets
Just a couple of quick notes for you guys before the signatures begin rolling in tomorrow morning. Mainly a follow-up on what I posted earlier this evening with a little more info.- I think the one guy I am almost expecting to choose the Aggies tomorrow is Mohamed Diallo. The Arizona Western DT decommitted from Oregon today and is coming off of a tremendous visit to College Station this past weekend. A 6-4, 320-pounder, Diallo would step right into the Aggie DT rotation, replacing departing senior Zaycoven Henderson. He doesn't have to sign tomorrow because he won't be enrolling in the spring but the sources I spoke to tonight actually feel confident he'll ink with TAMU during the early signing period.- There's a lot less confidence when it comes to the Ags' chances with Brey Walker and Vernon Jackson. The 6-7, 340-pound offensive tackle and his family are getting a TON of pressure to stay in state and the Sooners have been putting on an absolute full-court press and have been since his surprise official to College Station this weekend (which is why I was reluctant to post much about the visit until it wrapped up). The Ags' hope was that they'd be able to convince Walker to simply push back his signing until the traditional February date but it's sounding more and more like Lincoln Riley will keep his five-star in-state tackle committed.As for Jackson, it's been a wild few days. First, he gets an in-house from Coach Fisher and is blown away to the point that he schedules a weekend visit to College Station. Then, he sees his high school career come to a disappointing end on Friday night following a playoff loss. He decides not to make the A&M trip but then decides he'll skip the early signing period and wait it out until February. As of earlier tonight, however, Vernon changed his mind yet again and word out of Boling is that he's now planning to sign with Nick Saban's Crimson Tide tomorrow. Because he hasn't seemed completely sure about anything since Fisher's in-house late last week, Jackson will be one worth keeping an eye on tomorrow but it's not trending well for the Aggies.After seeing how much momentum Fisher was able to build in terms of A&M's pursuit of Walker and Jackson, both of these are examples of how a new coaching staff can take a pretty big hit thanks to the ridiculously-timed early signing period.-If the Aggies are going to shock the recruiting world tomorrow, it will be because Dominick Wood-Anderson chooses Texas A&M. Just about everyone who covers this stuff thinks that Wood-Anderson is heading ot Alabama or Tennessee but Fisher and Tim Brewster were hammering away at the nation's top-ranked JUCO tight end into the night. This one would qualify as a true stunner. All I'm saying, however, is that Dominick is still listening to the Aggie pitch and there isn't a place in the country with a better depth chart situation or a more clutch closer as his potential position coach. Unlikely, but you never know.- Still some optimism on the A&M side as it pertains to Terrace Marshall. We'll find out on Friday, but the five-star receiver is clearly feeling the pressure of the decision, which is a good indication that this thing has yet to be completely decided, even if Marshall is probably a slight LSU lean with his decision 48 hours out.
#GigEmGang18: Early Signing Period Expectations & Notes
The Aggie staff is expecting seven currently committed prospects to sign over the Early Signing Period, and more coveted targets are considering doing the same. Jason Howell breaks down what to expect over the next few days.
Regional Rundown: Assessing Texas A&M's local recruiting competition
Recruiting rankings are one thing, but how are football programs within the region addressing their needs with the 2018 Class? Jason Howell goes in-depth on Texas A&M, Texas, LSU and Oklahoma, analyzing positions of strength, head-to-head battles and more.