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

• Because of how we've seen quarterback recruits go, it's been interesting to see coach Collin Klein identify his guy and never waver. Once he went through all the scouting, at the top of that list was Husan Longstreet‍. Everything that we had heard was that Longstreet was the guy he wanted. The same thing was true with Helaman Casuga‍ when he came to camp. That's where his recruitment took off from an A&M perspective. 
   
• There's been some kind of cloudiness, even with Conner Weigman's class. They recruited Quinn Ewers, but he graduated early and went to Ohio State. In state, they waited and offered Conner Weigman and Cade Klubnik at the same time. We haven't seen it this clear-cut on who they want as a quarterback since this year. You don't often see this clear of a picture in one class, and we've seen this in two classes back to back.
   
• Longstreet and Helaman have great arm talent. Helaman Casuga's coach has even said that they have input some of A&M's stuff in their offense. He still has two more years, and there's a chance for him to have a big jump in growth mentally and physically. He and Husan Longstreet's skills are very similar, not identical. Watch it on Sunday, man. How many of these guys make plays with their feet not set? You better be able to do that. I think both of these kids can.
   
• Trashawn Ruffin‍ is a kid who, when he visited, we probably were focused a lot on the 2025 class and didn't give enough attention to this one. You'd rather have this guy committed and fight to keep him than him being on the open market, with everyone recruiting him in every direction. He's got a big athletic body and short-area quickness.
   
• Seeing Javion Hilson‍ on that list for the game this weekend would not surprise me. Our visitor list goes out tomorrow, and it will be pretty star-studded. He is a sensational player and a sensational prospect. He is kind of in the Shemar Stewart mold. A&M is right there in it. Texas is right there in it, as well. It will be interesting to see what A&M can do with the recruits with the night-time game. Again, the recruits aren't attracted to the result. They're attracted to the environment.
   
• We're anticipating kids from Florida to California. Coast-to coast. I think there's a good chance that the early No. 1 for the 2027 class is going to be at the game. It's going to look like that for a lot of the classes. Chace Sims‍ and Kelshaun Johnson‍ both visited Texas last week. It's important that you get them back to campus after visiting Texas. It's not only going to be a visitor list that is eye-catching in terms of talent but also eye-catching for folks who follow recruiting regarding how important it is to get some of these guys on campus.
   
• I talked to Tobi Haastrup‍. I saw him play and talked to him afterward. He announced yesterday that he is going to make his decision on signing day. We had heard that there was a lot of A&M momentum. It sounds like he is going to take all of his visits and make a decision on signing day. A&M has positioned itself well on this one.
   
• Between him and Javion Hilson, if they land one of those two as pass rushers, they should go with a guy like Marco Jones‍. We're seeing the importance of that position right now with how well Shemar Stewart is playing. Look at how good Cashius Howell is playing right now. If you compare Haastrup to Cashius Howell and Rylan Kennedy you'll see many similarities skillset-wise.
   
• I think Texas A&M has been a real threat in the Lamont Rogers‍ recruitment since he committed to Missouri. It would not surprise me if he showed up in town this weekend. I don't feel like there's anything different here. The Aggies have positioned themselves well. If he does not go to Missouri, I think he will go to Texas A&M.
   
• Michael Fasusi‍ is going to be a really big target for many schools because he is committed to Oklahoma. We know how their season has gone. Seth Littrell was just fired as their offensive coordinator, which is usually a sign things aren't going well. I don't think Brent Venables wanted to do that, but he was told he needed to make a change. I don't know how much Littrell had to do with Fasusi's recruitment. 
   
• Everybody keeps asking about wide receiver, but I don't think you will get a different answer. They would listen to any of the big receiver targets if they wanted to come on a visit between now and signing day. I am talking about Emmanuel Choice‍ and Kaliq Lockett‍. Those upper-echelon guys in the state of Texas. They haven't had any involvement with Dakorien Moore‍, so I don't see them getting involved there. 
   
• If they don't get a nibble from any of these top high school guys, I think we will see them go heavy in the transfer portal. If that is what they are planning on doing, then there must be some guys going into the transfer portal. Jahdae Walker and Moose Muhammad III are the only ones who are out of eligibility. Keeping Kelshaun Johnson and Tristan Norman‍ in the fold and seeing what the transfer portal looks like will be the formula going forward. 
   
• I have not asked about Trey McNutt III‍. Although he has some ties to Helaman Casuga, I have not heard anything about McNutt. 
   
• What does safety look like next year? Marcus Ratcliffe comes back. Bryce Anderson will probably come back. Dalton Brooks comes back. The only one who is out of eligibility is Trey Jones III.
   
• A play that has gone under the radar from last week was Myles Davis' tackle on the fake punt. He is a young safety who made a huge play in that game. That kid has a real chance to be a down-to-down player in the future. 
   
• If you feel really good about a position, is it worth getting an unknown guy out of the transfer portal? If the staff is happy with the development of the underclassmen, you may not need to. It is all part of roster management now, which was not a piece of the puzzle five years ago. 
   
• I don't anticipate any involvement from Texas A&M with Michael Terry III‍. They haven't been involved in a while. His finalists are Texas, Nebraska and Oregon, and I think one of those will be the pick. 
   
• This could be a huge weekend for the Aggies. I have seen some people on the boards saying this is a massive game in the Mike Elko tenure. Is it really? Winning or losing on Saturday guarantees you nothing. It is not an indicator that Elko will win a national championship here or be a failure.
   
• You can be a little heavy-handed because of the emotion of the moment. People want to make these over-arching definitive statements about things they have no idea about. Texas A&M could lose this game, still beat Texas, and go to Atlanta. I have supreme confidence in Mike Elko's preparation. Regardless of the result on Saturday night, I still believe Mike Elko can win a lot of football games here. You can talk about these games having massive impacts on this season but not Elko's tenure.