Recruiting Country: The latest recruiting news surrounding the Maroon & White

TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger joined TexAgs Radio on Wednesday morning for another edition of Recruiting Country, highlighting the latest news and notes from the recruiting trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• Landon Rink‍ was on campus this past weekend and wanted to keep things quiet because of how that could be perceived. He’s a sensational football player. When you look at his offer list and watch him play in person or on tape, he’s got real talent and skill. There are not many interior defensive line prospects that have as good of a feel for technique and leverage.

• He’s going to come in way ahead of the game. He’s grown up with an understanding of how to play the position. He’s so advanced. You just don't see that. A lot of high school defensive linemen just overwhelm people because they are bigger and stronger. For Rink, you see all that, but you also see it with proper technique, and he just gets underneath the offensive lineman. There is typically a learning curve for defensive linemen, but he's going to come in with that skill set already. Even saying that kind of undersells his explosiveness, and he plays extremely hard.

• Watching Rink against North Shore, just leveraging guys and recreating the line of scrimmage and just how hard he plays. He walked off the field exhausted. He does that every time he plays whether that's against elite competition or not. He loves playing football.

• It’s a massive get for Mike Elko on the field, but it’s also a really massive get for the locker room and the culture he is trying to create going forward. The ideal player for Mike Elko is super talented, no doubt can play in the SEC, and also a guy who can do things the way he wants them done. I think Landon Rink checks both of those boxes immensely. When you’re looking at future leaders of the team and future team captains, Landon Rink would fit that mold.

• Rink just felt super comfortable coming to College Station. He said proximity wasn’t a deciding factor, but it was a bonus. He was coming back, and he was so comfortable here. He got to know some of the players here.

• When Elko came in, one of his first stops was at Cy-Fair High School. He went in and saw Landon face-to-face as one of his first stops as he got the job. I think that let Landon and his family know that this guy is for real and that he was a priority. 

• All the coaches have made sure that Landon understood how coveted he was for them. A&M and coach Elko kind of reestablished their lead as they got into College Station and began forming those relationships with Landon and his dad.

• It’s a perfect example of parents letting their kids choose what's best for them. The first time I talked to Landon, I asked him if his dad going to Texas had any effect on his recruitment, and he said zero percent. He said he might go to Texas, but it won't be because his dad went there. His dad said the same thing, and I really admire a parent who can do that.

• There’s no question that when Elijah Robinson and God, rest his soul, Terry Price was here, how formidable a duo that was. You’re going to tell me Tony Jerod-Eddie didn’t learn anything from those guys? I don’t know if Sean Spencer had any background with Elijah or TP, but he came in with some feathers in his hat as a recruiter and a well-established reputation as a recruiter.

• When you put him in the mix and Tony having played here and his connections to the DFW area, it’s really exciting. He was obviously a help with Landon Rink and Tony has been critical in A&M’s reemergence in the DFW.

• I went up to Jasper High School on Monday and got to talk to two A&M offers: Demetris Dean‍, the offensive lineman. He wanted to come up for a practice or even the spring game. The bell cow there at Jasper is Kiotti Armstrong‍. Nearly 6-foot-7, 265-pound tight end, you don't see guys that big move the way he does. He’s no doubt a first-off-the-bus type of guy.

• When you start looking at what his frame is and what it could be, it reminds me of Darnell Washington, who was at Georgia. That’s what he could remind you of. You recruit him as a tight end and see where the body goes when he gets here. He can be a defensive end. He’s too good of an athlete to say he’s going to be a tackle because he can do so many different things. He has an 84-inch wingspan, and he’s a crazy athlete. He is for sure coming this weekend now, and that’s good to hear if you’re an A&M fan, but there are a lot of schools involved. I do think A&M is in a good spot.

• Yesterday, I stopped at Port Neches-Groves High School and talked to Jackson Christian‍, who will be here tomorrow and then on Saturday. He looks awesome. He’s off-the-charts intelligent. He has an 80-inch wingspan, and I watched him bench press 330 pounds. For a high school kid with that long of arms is impressive. He’s got massive hands, and all of his measurables when he came in made the coaching staff go, “Wow because this kid is measuring like an A&M offensive lineman.” That one is probably going to come down to A&M and Texas.

• I went to Port Arthur Memorial High School and got to talk to Tank King‍ and Michael Riles‍. Riles has an A&M offer. He’s coming up the 16th. That’s a kid who, I think, got pretty close and wanted to pull the trigger. He kind of slowed things down, and I think if he pulled that trigger, A&M would have been the one to get him. 

• King, a 2026 linebacker, who is just a maniac on the field. He tackles everything. The biggest compliment that I can give right now is that when he was a freshman in high school and could have been an 8th grader age-wise, he led a 5A Division I team that was top five in the state all year in tackles. As a 14-year-old kid. I saw him the other day, and he got taller. A&M and LSU are probably at the forefront for him right now.

• King loves A&M. He was up here last weekend. He really likes coach Jay Bateman and really likes coach Elko. It’s a long way off for that class, but there are certain kids like him, you don't want to get too far behind on those guys, even if their decision dates are over 12 months away. It is better to be too early than too late on those types of players.

• Kelshaun Johnson‍, when you watch his tape, it’s hard to watch him and not imagine him playing an Ainias Smith type of role. I know he’s faster than Ainias straight line than he was at this point in this development. He just finds space where there isn't any space and is really good in and out of breaks. He creates separation because of his quickness. I like Kelshaun. With him, it’s going to be A&M, Texas and Penn State.

• Adam Cushing is doing really well, especially when you look at A&M’s standings with those top guys in DFW. You’re talking about Ty Haywood‍, Marcus Garcia‍, Michael Fasusi‍, Lamont Rogers‍, Connor Carty‍ and all those DFW offensive linemen. They are combing through the state far and wide and even out of state with guys coming in.

• What I’ve been told about coach Cushing is that he is a great teacher of the game. He’s very cerebral. As a coach, you better be able to say things in multiple different ways because of the way people are. I’ve heard Cushing is that type of guy. He does a really good job at explaining what he wants, getting his point across, and they don’t move on from one thing until they master what they’re trying to get done. I think it’s almost a 180-degree difference from what we’ve seen.