A Saturday scrimmage should reveal who will emerge as Texas A&M’s starting quarterback.
Or maybe it won’t.
Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher on Thursday wouldn’t commit to a timeline to make a decision on whether Haynes King, Max Johnson or Conner Weigman will start A&M’s football season-opener against Sam Houston State on Sept. 3.
“We’ll see how the scrimmage goes,” Fisher said during a press conference at Kyle Field. “We could and we could not. We’ll wait and evaluate that as we go. I don’t have a timetable.”
Last year, Fisher announced on a Houston radio that King had won the starting job over Zach Calzada 10 days prior to the season-opening victory over Kent State.
King completed 21-of-33 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 22 yards in a 41-10 victory. He also threw three interceptions.
The next week, he suffered a season-ending leg injury early in the first quarter of a 10-7 victory over Colorado.
Johnson, who transferred to A&M in January, started LSU’s season-opening 38-27 loss to UCLA last year.
He completed 26-of-46 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns with one interception in that game.
Weigman is a true freshman who arrived at A&M as a five-star prospect and one of the top quarterback recruits in the country.
There have been reports that King has again earned the starting job, but last week, Fisher refuted them.
Coaches typically name a starter at least a week before the season. That would allow the starter to take practice reps with the starting lineup throughout the week of game preparation.
However, Fisher, probably facetiously, indicated that naming the starting quarterback could be a game-time decision.
“I’ll know when I know,” he said.
Another more intriguing question is who will emerge as the successor to two-time All-American Kenyon Green at left guard.
The most likely starter is either redshirt freshman Jordan Spasojevic-Moko or sophomore Aki Ogunbiyi.
Fisher might have provided a hint if one can discern whether “tremendous” or “unbelievable” is a superior compliment.
“Moko has done a tremendous job in there,” Fisher said. “Aki’s done an unbelievable job in there. Aki’s playing as good as anybody. Aki is really, really talented and playing really good up front.
“Moko has done a really good job. He’s getting better and better. I’m pleased with their development.”
Incumbent starting center Bryce Foster missed most of spring football while competing in shotput and discus for the Aggie track & field team.
He’s also sat out some of August camp. Though Foster recently returned to practice, his absence raises the question of how much time he can miss and still start the first game.
Fisher didn’t give an answer.
“He is working right now,” Fisher said. “He’s practicing right now and playing well.”
Maybe that’s a sufficient endorsement. However, Fisher also lauded redshirt freshman Matthew Wykoff, who has gotten most of the playing time at center in Foster’s absence.
“Wykoff has done a really good job. He’s played really good football,” Fisher said. “We’ve executed very well with him playing center and guard — playing two different positions. I’ve been really pleased with him.”
So far there are no significant injuries that would prevent anyone from playing in the season-opener.
“Not that I can see right now. I don’t see that happening right now,” Fisher said.
