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

TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger joined TexAgs Live 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 

• I still feel good about A&M's chances with Helaman Casuga‍. We write a recruiting article every week. If A&M lands Casuga, my article will be about what we are learning about this entire staff as recruiters. In their minds, they came in behind on the 2025 class. Right now, we are seeing how things will look going forward. The 2026 class will look a little different than 2025. 
   
• Every recruitment is different, and understanding the inner circle and people involved with each recruitment takes a little while. In 2026, we will get a real feel for how this staff wants to structure their classes. 
   
• We did not know much about Collin Klein as a recruiter. He got Avery Johnson to stay in state at Kansas State. If he can get Helaman Casuga, he would be two for two on his guys. Around January or February, we heard that Husan Longstreet‍ was Collin Klein's guy and who he wanted. Klein went and got him. We heard the same thing about Casuga when he came to camp over the summer. He skyrocketed on Klein's big board. 
   
• You can argue who should be No. 1 or if A&M should have prioritized someone else. Collin Klein is the quarterbacks coach and the offensive coordinator. This is his offense. Mike Elko has given him full reign to pick the pieces for his offense.
   
• Look at what Diego Pavia has done for Vanderbilt. He was not even recruited out of high school. There are guys like that every so often that fall through the cracks. Johnny Manziel came here, and the best thing for him was Kliff Kingsbury being with Kevin Sumlin. He was perfect for that offense. Fit is so important at the quarterback position.
   
• Husan Longstreet had a very efficient game. He was 10/13 for 216 yards with four total touchdowns. He had a 33-yard touchdown run. He has had a good year. He has been banged up, but now he is healthy. When you look at the tape, you see the elite skill set that Collin Klein saw. 
   
• The more I have done scouting, the more important different traits have become for different positions. For the offensive line, understanding the game of football has gone way up. You can have great feet, strength and flexibility, but if you don't know who to block, then what does it matter? For quarterbacks, I have gone down on arm strength. I have gone up on arm-talent. Arm talent is the ball coming out on time and on the right trajectory. Is the ball put in a position where the receiver can do something with it after it is caught? 
   
• Conner Weigman has elite arm talent. He puts the ball in a position where receivers can do something with it after the catch.
   
• Texas A&M can still add to this current recruiting class. In this new era of college football, numbers matter way less. We used to have to try to figure out how many kids they would take. We would count scholarships. This was before the transfer portal. Numbers matter way less. We are only a month and a half away from National Signing Day. They moved it way up. 
   
• Texas A&M is still after a few guys at the top of their list that they would absolutely take. Tobi Haastrup‍, the defensive end from Mayde Creek, is an absolute take until the end. Outside of that, there may be one or two kids around the country that they are all in on. Jerome Myles‍ at receiver may be one of those guys. The pool of players in the 2025 class that the staff is still recruiting is fairly small. It is a few guys across the country. Tobi Hastruup is the main guy in the state of Texas.
   
• They are happy with the guys they have committed. Oregon is still after Noah Mikhail‍. LSU, Alabama, and USC are still after Kiotti Armstrong‍. Texas is after Chace Sims‍ and Kelshaun Johnson‍. They have to keep the committed guys. That will be a dogfight. 
   
• Eight days ago, the two targets in the state were Nelson McGuire‍ and Tobi Haastrup. McGuire committed, so now there is just Hastrup in the 2025 class. I like McGuire's ties to Texas A&M. His sister goes here. I am going to see him play tomorrow night. A&M is all in on his recruitment. 
   
• Wide receiver is a position that the staff could return to if an elite recruit comes back to them unsure about their commitment elsewhere. It would have to be an elite player at the high school level because I think the staff is going to try to make some hay in the transfer portal. 
   
• Getting the right people is a correct way of saying his hit rate was high. So you have got to feel confident that he and his staff did a great job of identifying really good players and then putting together a plan to get those players in a short window. He arrived in late November, and this portal class came together by January 20th. It was just before the semester started that they closed on their portal targets. 
   
• Look at the hit rate on all of them. I don't know what Marcus Ratcliffe had coming out of San Diego State in terms of offers, but A&M identified him and thought he was an impact player. They got him to campus, and I don't know how much this recruitment was celebrated by the Aggie fanbase, but look what it's turned into. It's just one class in the portal, and it's just a data point at this point, but it could show what they might be able to do with this portal window coming up.
   
• If you look around the Brazos Valley right now, Greg Tepper from Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine wrote an article about what the best area of Texas football is. He factored in many different areas of what success looks like, and pound for pound, the best area in the state for high school football is the Brazos Valley.
   
• A&M Consolidated is ranked No. 3 in the state and undefeated. College Station High School is ranked No. 6 in the state with one loss to Consol. Bryan Rudder is 6-0 for the first time in a long time, and they have a game against Brenham. If Bryan Rudder can beat Brenham, they will be ranked. I want to highlight how good of a job these local coaches are doing right now. This is a football region, and those coaches should be proud.
   
• Eli Stowers is a phenomenal human being and a great kid. I don't think he has any ill will against A&M, and I'm happy for him and his family that he has gotten the opportunity to succeed as he has.
   
• I dont think we are going to have something new pop up unless a 2026 recruit has a “wild hair.” We are still monitoring Tobi Haastrup. He hasn't played football for very long. He has just blown up in terms of offers. It is one of the most unique recruiting stories I have ever seen as an analyst. This is all new to him and he is trying to process this. He was in Kyle Field for the Missouri game. I think the Aggies have a great shot to add him, but I also think he will go on a few more visits. I will get down there and talk to him tomorrow, and we'll see what he says.