Texas A&M's Christian Kirk declares for the NFL Draft

Texas A&M junior All-American receiver/kick returner Christian Kirk officially ended his collegiate career today by declaring to enter the NFL draft.

https://twitter.com/ChristianDavon2/status/948253113990791168

College players opting for early entry into the draft must declare by Jan. 15. Although the week before the Belk Bowl Kirk insisted he had not made a decision, it was understood the 2017 season would be Kirk’s final collegiate campaign.

Former A&M coach Kevin Sumlin even acknowledge it while speaking to the Houston Touchdown Club last summer.
 

Lindsay Caudle, TexAgs

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Though Kirk ended his career prematurely, he leaves A&M as one of the most prolific players in school history. He demonstrated from the very beginning that his career would be special.

Kirk returned a punt for a touchdown and turned a short pass into a long touchdown in his first collegiate game to lead the Aggies to a 38-16 victory over Arizona State in the 2015 season-opener.

He followed with frequent big performances against Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi State, among others.

Kirk completed his career with 13 catches for a 189 yards and three touchdowns in the Aggies’ 55-52 Belk Bowl loss to Wake Forest.

All were career highs and set or tied A&M school records for bowl games.

He finished his career with 234 receptions for 2,856 yards and 26 touchdowns. His receptions total is second on the all-time A&M chart behind Ryan Swope, who had 252 catches in four seasons from 2009-12. His yardage total and his touchdowns total are third all-time. He is also third in all-time purpose yardage.

Further, Kirk proved to be one of A&M’s greatest threats on kick returns.

He is seventh all-time with 1,058 kickoff returns yards. That includes a clutch 100-yard fourth quarter return in a 50-43 victory over Arkansas this season.

Kirk was even more dynamic as a punt returner. He returned punts for 840 career yards (sixth all-time) and set a school record with six career punt returns for touchdowns. He averaged a school record 21.5 yards per return.

Unfortunately, Kirk’s greatness was not enough to lift the Aggies to championships. A&M was 23-16 in Kirk’s three seasons. Still, there was no question about his prowess on the field or off. Kirk was never suspended and was always a perfect representative of A&M’s program.

Some analysts project Kirk was a first round draft choice, which would mark the eighth consecutive year an Aggie would be selected in the first round.