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Jimbo 2022: Balls To The Face


Neonmoon

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Obviously, the Ags have been focused on three and only three targets since the early signing period in December. I mentioned back then that I didn't expect the Aggies to add any names to their January close-out list and that's exactly how things have played out, as Jimbo Fisher and Co. have kept the focus squarely on Shemar Stewart, Jacoby Mathews and one-time commitment Harold Perkins. I suppose we can now officially include current Class of '23 No. 1 Lebbeus Overton, as well. The five-star defensive end out of Georgia intends to reclassify, something the Ags have been aware of for a while, so there's a spot for him in the Ags' No. 1 2022 class, as well.

With about 36 hours until National Signing Day, let's take a quick look at where the Ags stand with each as Fisher and his staff look to put the finishing touches on what still may very well rank as the highest-graded class in the modern era of recruiting.

If I were assessing the Ags' chances tonight, my list would look like this:

Shemar Stewart
Jacoby Mathews
Harold Perkins

Shemar Stewart visited Miami this past weekend and was at Georgia before that. Pretty formidable opposition when you consider the Dawgs are the newly-crowned champions and The U got a desperately-needed shot in the arm when they pulled Mario Christobal away from Oregon. Still, the Aggies have been in a very good spot with the five-star defensive lineman for a long, long time now and I like A&M's chances to add a national top-10 prospect who would not only push the Ags' d-line class into 'best ever assembled' territory but also take the overall class to No. 1, all-time.

Jacoby Mathews' recruitment has become very interesting of late. A&M, LSU and Florida appear to be the last teams standing. Florida has some confidence here, as does LSU. While 25 years of instinct tells me the four-star safety out of Ponchatoula stays in-state and ends up playing for Grindin' Brian in Baton Rouge, the vibe I've gotten from sources close to the recruitment in the past week or so tells me that the Aggies are still in this one more so than people in the industry (and on the various fan message boards) are giving them credit for. Definitely one worth monitoring over the next day or so.

And then there's Harold Perkins. While Jackson State has been mentioned regularly down the stretch, I still see this one as Florida, LSU and A&M. The Ags have obviously been trending south in this one as NSD approaches but the last few days have seen Fisher, Tyler Santucci and the home state team rally a bit. Florida insiders (and staffers in Gainesville) believe they have the Houston-area five-star all but signed, sealed and delivered but all indications are that's still far from being the case. Like A&M, LSU is a wire-to-wire player and Perk had what some described as a good but not great visit to Bayou Country over the weekend. Despite his (very) public decommitment, the Aggies have never backed off in their pursuit and, as result, are still sitting there as the option not only closest to home, the one he originally chose, the one featuring the class he's most connected to and the one with the staff he has the closest relationships with.  

Basically, the Ags have done all they can do and Perkins knows exactly how badly they want him. Gainesville seems to be the most likely destination, but Perkins could easily wake up on Wednesday and decide he wants to stay at home. Then again, he could also go the Zach Evans route and decide to take his one more official and drag things out until he steps foot on campus this summer. Who really knows at this point?

One more point worth sharing is that the A&M staff is in regular communication with all three. We're already well inside that three-day window prior to NSD when you'll routinely see longtime targets suddenly go radio silent if they've eliminated a particular program or if they've made their choice.

The bottom line here is that the Ags are still squarely in the mix for all three of their desired close-out targets. While I'm still sticking with my original prediction that A&M inks one of the three, Fisher and Co. pulling two on Wednesday certainly wouldn't qualify as a shock.

As for Overton, he's likely to officially visit Georgia, perhaps another power program or two and then Aggieland later this spring and make a pre-summer choice. As an early enrollee, he'd arrive on a college campus this summer. The Aggies are in a good spot here and are coming off of an excellent weekend visit and it would come as a pretty significant surprise if the two teams standing on decision day weren't the Aggies and Dawgs. 

I like the Maroon & White in this one when the dust finally settles.

We'll have all the latest tomorrow as Brauny, Howell and I sit down for an In-Home Visit. 
 
 
A couple of things to add:

Tyler Santucci spoke with Harold Perkins on Sunday and on Monday. I'm expecting one more phone call with the A&M staff on Tuesday based on the intel I have. 

Also, early indications seem to favor Texas A&M getting the last official visit for LT Overton although nothing is set in stone on that front. 
 

 

 

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Lines of communication are still open with all three of the remaining targets and I still feel good about where the Ags stand with Florida five-star Shemar Stewart. Lots of confidence on the Bayou today as it pertains to Harold Perkins but, again, there's really no telling where he lands. 

The most interesting news of the day seems to center around Jacoby Mathews. Word out of Gainesville is that the national top-100 prospect informed the Gators they were no longer in the running, making this one an A&M-LSU battle. I said yesterday that the Ags had more reason for optimism here than most were giving them credit for. Since that time, Maroon & White momentum has built considerably. Fisher and the Ags still need to reach the finish line here but A&M may well have the inside track as we approach the tape. 
 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, Dr. Teeth said:

11 DL on the field, blitz every play and hope no one can throw in time. It’s going to kill.  

My podunk high school ran a 9-1-1 defense. Now that I think about it I’m also like 99% sure the fight song was also the Aggy war hymn. Dang, maybe we were just way ahead of the curve back then. 

Edited by Etexhorn13
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30 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Gerry just posted that he think Lebbeus Overton is going to reclassify to 2022 and sign with aggy.  Overton is currently the top DT in the 2023 class and #3 overall.

https://247sports.com/Player/Lebbeus-Overton-46103456/

LMAO at a kid from Georgia enrolling early to sign with aggy over the national fucking champions from his home state.  I mean... what can you even do at this point.

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4 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

In all seriousness, with portal what it is and the bag game in full swing, why are they targeting high school kids?

Why would you not pull a bunch of proven starters off other teams? I don't think optics really matter anymore do they?

the number 1 class ranking and "best class ever" are the goals here. 

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1 minute ago, golfclap said:

the number 1 class ranking and "best class ever" are the goals here. 

Yeah, they are all in on this. They want to win February worse than I have ever seen. I think they know that they missed their first window and are now trying to build the hype machine for a down year because "They are so young... wait til next year!"

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16 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

In all seriousness, with portal what it is and the bag game in full swing, why are they targeting high school kids?

Why would you not pull a bunch of proven starters off other teams? I don't think optics really matter anymore do they?

It could be a philosophical thing. Jimbo might be opposed to the portal like Dabo once was. It seems stubborn and stupid to us, but I'm glad he's taken this position. 

If/when 8&4 goes 8-4 this coming season, every 4/5 OOS player they signed will be recruited to the portal by their local programs. 

They signed a great class, but it will be an immense challenge to hold on it. 

Edited by billfromlaketravis
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20 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

Yeah, they are all in on this. They want to win February worse than I have ever seen. I think they know that they missed their first window and are now trying to build the hype machine for a down year because "They are so young... wait til next year!"

Yeah wait till next year when they’re in the portal 

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1 hour ago, Chuckie Finster said:

LMAO at a kid from Georgia enrolling early to sign with aggy over the national fucking champions from his home state.  I mean... what can you even do at this point.

To be fair, his dad was the Associate AD at A&M for a while so it's not completely random. But yeah, still clearly bagged if it happens.

Also kinda questionable going in to compete with a bunch of other 5 stars at his position who are a year older / more physically mature but same class.

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46 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

In all seriousness, with portal what it is and the bag game in full swing, why are they targeting high school kids?

Why would you not pull a bunch of proven starters off other teams? I don't think optics really matter anymore do they?

As evidenced by Perkins and Matthews kids don't want to go there even with the bags. It is easier to get kids by buying their parents than it is to convince them to spend their last couple of college years in College Station without their parents influence. 

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13 minutes ago, Sir Ulrich said:

As evidenced by Perkins and Matthews kids don't want to go there even with the bags. It is easier to get kids by buying their parents than it is to convince them to spend their last couple of college years in College Station without their parents influence. 

Stewart is another that they had to make multiple passes at to find the money he couldn't say no to. And hilariously, aggy is gloating about it. 

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1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

In all seriousness, with portal what it is and the bag game in full swing, why are they targeting high school kids?

Why would you not pull a bunch of proven starters off other teams? I don't think optics really matter anymore do they?

It's probably harder to bag guys that can take NIL money right away.

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8 minutes ago, Ghost of Shag said:

We can whine and complain and laugh all we want. But Aggy seems to be changing the landscape and who is going to do anything about it?

Got a spare few million dollars, a guy who can set up an NIL corp for you (or just get in touch with our friends at Clark Field), and a fanatical desire to win football games?

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33 minutes ago, Ghost of Shag said:

We can whine and complain and laugh all we want. But Aggy seems to be changing the landscape and who is going to do anything about it?

I saw a podcast last night where Lane Kiffen talked about NIL. The comment he made was "Can we impose a luxury tax on Texas and Texas A&M? Because that will eventually change the landscape."   We are already being painted as the villain, may as well embrace it and just go for it. 

Edited by Vertigo
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17 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

High confidence CBs pouring in for Matthews to A&M. Looks like that one is done/bought

They bought his dad weeks ago. The player through a fit and begged for alternatives with his coaches and handlers. Sentiment seemed to have swayed away from ATM as a result, but if he signs there, it just tells you that they were intent on getting their man, even if he's not long for being their man. 

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10 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

They bought his dad weeks ago. The player through a fit and begged for alternatives with his coaches and handlers. Sentiment seemed to have swayed away from ATM as a result, but if he signs there, it just tells you that they were intent on getting their man, even if he's not long for being their man. 

How motivated can they expect a kid that was dragged kicking and screaming to Sheepfuck U to be? It will be interesting to see what happens on the field with some of these guys.

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13 minutes ago, Bevo14 said:

How motivated can they expect a kid that was dragged kicking and screaming to Sheepfuck U to be? It will be interesting to see what happens on the field with some of these guys.

I think it is just a matter of understanding perspective and how people will discuss various matters with others. It's awful hard for a player, parent (who has already taken money) or a HS coach to tell a staff member at a school that the player simply doesn't want to go there. It's not like I talk to ATM folks, although I do know one of the major players pretty well. The HS staff will tell others things that won't say to a staff. The parent will just eventually up the ante and tell the kid to suck it up and grow up.

 

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1 hour ago, Vertigo said:

I saw a podcast last night where Lane Kiffen talked about NIL. The comment he made was "Can we impose a luxury tax on Texas and Texas A&M? Because that will eventually change the landscape."   We are already being painted as the villain, may as well embrace it and just go for it. 


The is analogous to a guy standing on the beach shaking his fist at an 80’ Tsunami as the cliff face of water closes in.

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4 hours ago, Chuckie Finster said:

LMAO at a kid from Georgia enrolling early to sign with aggy over the national fucking champions from his home state.  I mean... what can you even do at this point.

I'm sure Jimbo said something about take this big bag now, because next year you may have to go the NIL route with no bag.  

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Not gonna lie. If I’m an 18 year old kid why the fuck would I go to Miami. Who wants to be distracted by south beach. Women. Partying beaches Florida life.  I need to focus on the nfl I’m going to fucking middle of no where college station where men dress like military and fuck each other. Lead cheer practice and chase sheep.  Nothing to take away my focus on school and nfl.  
 

kids playing 4 d chess 

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