Recruiting surge evokes euphoric and neurotic emotions

Of course, you’re happy. Yet, you want to be euphoric.

But feelings of euphoria are suppressed as a defense mechanism. Possibly, it’s for self-preservation.

Seeing Texas A&M’s list of football commitments for 2027 ranked No. 1 by all major recruiting services is — to borrow a Bret Bielema’s famous line — “borderline erotic.”

It also makes you borderline neurotic.

Is this a dream come true? Or is it a recurring nightmare?

Remember A&M’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class of 2022? Of course, you do. That class featured more five-stars than a Stanley Kubrick film festival.

You celebrated. Even salivated. Ultimately, you were castigated. Maybe emotionally castrated.

So, you can’t help but feel some apprehension. You need reason to believe this recruiting class A&M coach Mike Elko is assembling won’t overpromise and underdeliver as Jimbo Fisher’s ‘22 class did.

Buck up, Sparky … er, Aggie … there’s a good reason to be confident.

It’s Elko, who runs a tighter ship than Fisher ever did. There have been no players sneaking out of the team hotel to attend parties. Nobody has sped through parking garages. Nobody has been caught vaping in the locker room at a game.

Also, in two seasons under Elko, A&M has shown more ability to develop talent than was seen in six years under Fisher.

Elko has had 10 A&M players taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft. Nine were taken under Fisher.

A&M had four offensive linemen drafted last April. That’s as many as A&M had in Fisher’s entire tenure.

“I think we’re selling a program that can develop (recruits) into what they want to become on the field,” Elko said last week at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings. “I think there’s a lot more feeling when people walk around the building that all those things are attainable now.

“I think people are buying into that vision.”

Offensive linemen certainly are. A&M could have its best group of O-line recruits since the 2010 class that included eventual first-round draft picks Luke Joeckel, Jake Matthews and Cedric Ogbuehi.

There are no great football teams without great offensive lines.

Elko currently has commitments from four blockers who are ranked among the nation’s top 100 prospects at any position.

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2027 Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas OL Mark Matthews is currently Texas A&M’s highest-rated verbal pledge.

Indeed, A&M has 10 players committed that are ranked among the top 100.

The Aggies are also in contention for a few more highly-ranked prospects. Some have even been projected to A&M by the recruiting “experts.”

Understand, recruiting is an inexact science. Some highly-rated players won’t work out. Some lower-rated players will become stars.

But Elko has a very good track record for identifying and developing talent.

So, as A&M adds to this acclaimed 2027 class, it’s OK to feel euphoric.

Of course, feeling neurotic is understandable, too.