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closetojumping

Burnt Ends
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Everything posted by closetojumping

  1. Due to the bizarre meta nature of topic discussions on this board, discussing Texas A&M for the 2025 football season, like those before it, has become a bizarre exercise in either posting on the ATM recruiting thread or the football board "Tell me about A&M" thread, neither of which actually wind up satisfying the purpose of staying updated on the team. This is a similar phenomenon for every other team any of us would give a shit about besides Texas itself. Given that, I decided to start a new thread for the express purpose of tracking 2025 itself for Texas 8&4. I'll post my preseason thoughts here, and then I, and hopefully others, can provide updates towards and into the season when there's something new regarding the aggies. Will I be the only person tracking this thread and wind up posting to myself in an echo chamber? Wouldn't be the first time. Still, it's our little brother rival and I get tired of trying to parse signal from noise in other threads when it comes to their team. In regard to their outlook for 2025, here are my thoughts, offense first: QB: QB1 Marcel Reed (Soph); QB2 Jacob Zeno (SR); QB3 Miles O’Neill (FR); QB4 Brady Hart (FR) – Reed is slight and short, coming in at 6’2”, 180 lbs. Neither of those are accurate. He’s shorter than 6’2” and likely 5-10 pounds less than the sad 180 in his listing. He’s not some witch with escapability, but he is mobile. Klein likes to run his QBs and Reed’s arm isn’t begging to be heavily utilized. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got hurt and stayed hurt, prompting 7th year guy Zeno to fit into aggie fans’ favorite role, the elevated back-up QB. RB: RB1 La’Veon Moss (SR); RB2 Reuben Owens (Soph); RB3 Amari Daniels (SR); RB4 EJ Smith (SR) – Moss was having a quality season last year before going down to injury. It sounds like he’s recovered and aggies are justified in expecting another good season. Owens went down early, came back late, and continued sucking from his Freshman year. Few RBs have been hyped this far into their career without having broken an arm tackle or 4 ypc (3.9), but this guy gets discussed every time an aggie preview is discussed. Daniels is the personification of average and Smith is worse than that. Moss needs to stay healthy for ATM to do much on offense. TE: TE1 Theo Melin Ohrstrom (JR); TE2 Amari Niblacj (SR); TE3 Nate Boerkircher (SR); TE4 Micah Riley (SR) – The Swede is “really coming on!” and then we’ll see him this fall continue to disappear into the field, like a magic trick. They started talking shit about Niblack in the spring, but that’s been toned down. Now that it’s clear he’s allergic to contact and won’t learn the playbook, let’s see them smirk about luring him away from mean ol’Texas for $500k that Texas had no intention of matching. Today I learned that “Boerkircher” means “also ran” in Dutch. Micah Riley is rushing Sigma Chi this fall and might not even be able to attend most practices. WR-X: WR1 Mario Craver (Soph); WR2 Ashton Bethel-Roman (Soph); WR3 Jerome Myles (FR) – Craver was a good get from the portal. He averaged over 21 ypc last year at Miss State and he has 3 years left to play. He’s a burner. Is he going to be a world beater in Klein’s offense like the aggies believe? Right. They also talk up this ABR guy a lot but I don’t recall him in a game or in recruiting. Myles is a 5 star that didn’t get to campus until this summer. Why on earth a 5 star WR would go to ATM to play for Klein is beyond me. It’s not like money isn’t available elsewhere. WR-Z: WR1 Terry Bussey (Soph); WR2 Jonah Wilson (Soph); WR3 Kelshaun Johnson (FR) – Bussey’s displaying all of the issues discussed about him before he landed on campus – he’s raw, he’s been sheltered in 2A and the bright lights are a lot, and he’s not necessarily actually a WR. They’re talking about incorporating a bunch of screens and jet sweeps to leverage his size/speed combo. Wilson, former UT commit who Texas didn’t want to lose, went to UH to be their star and busted out. Johnson is another guy that Sarkisian wanted who didn’t want to have to fight for the limelight in a crowded WR room. WR-Y: WR1 KC Concepcion (JR); WR2 Isaiah Williams (FR) – Concepcion had a great freshman season at NC State and became a well-known weapon to CFB fans. Bizarrely, he had a terrible sophomore year without injury. His numbers got worse while the rest of the offense’s numbers got better. NCSU lowered their NIL offer for the upcoming season and Concepcion left their locker room looking for a sucker in the portal. Found them! The aggie talking heads talk about this guy as though he’s a burner. It’s bizarre. He averaged less than 9 ypc last year and less than 12 ypc in 2023. Meanwhile, the aggies poo-poo the loss of Noah Thomas to the portal and the Georgia mods are drooling about his performance so far in their fall camp. LT: LT1 Trey Zuhn III (SR); LT2 Lamont Rogers (FR); LT3 Robert Bourdon(FR) – Zuhn is a good OT, the aggies claim he’s a great OT. He’s not a mauler, but he’s competent and stays in front of his guys pretty well. Depth behind him is horrific, so aggies need to pray he stays healthy. LG: LG1 Chase Bisontits (JR); LG2 Ashton Funk (FR); LG3 Isendra Ahfua (FR) – Bisontits is getting all kinds of hype from the ATM side. I think Liucci said something ludicrous like he’s going to be an early draft pick next year. He’s a better Guard than Tackle, that’s for sure. I’m sure he’ll continue his progression from dogshit to mediocre to perhaps above average. Again, he better stay healthy because depth is an issue behind him. C : C1 Mark Nabou (JR); C2 Kolinu’u Faaiu (SR) – Nabou went down early against ND and missed the year. The aggies are high on him coming back. He was decent in 2023, so if healthy, this could be a solid return on the OL. Notice the depth behind these guys here as well. Attrition in the portal from guys like Shanahan could cause some ugly chickens to come home to roost this season. RG: RG1 Armaj Reed-Adams (SR); RG2 Blake Ivey (FR) – Reed-Adams was one of the 3 players that The Elk took to SEC Media Days and he’s a returning all conference caliber player. He is actually someone they’re hyping as a quality draft pick and I believe them. Ivey is a guy with a history of shoulder issues. This, again, is a really thin spot on their OL. RT: RT1 Demetrious Crownover (SR); RT2 Reuben Fatheree (SR) – Crownover has turned into a league average RT, which is saying a lot. He was atrocious early on at ATM. Fatheree continues to be listed as a viable candidate on their roster for PT, but I don’t see it. He is a shadow of his pre-injury self and they’ve been really reluctant to give him snaps. Good luck if Crownover is hurt. The aggies have been big on touting that they’re returning their entire OL for this season. Anyone would, I guess, but based on last year, are they managing anyone’s expectations effectively? No. This OL has a chance to be decent, which would be an improvement. It’s not going to win the Joe Moore Award, and that’s what those assclowns are talking like. If the injury bug shows up at all in BCS at the OL positions, those guys need to light their cigarettes right about then, because the lack of depth in that area on their roster says they’ll have just been fucked. Offensive Coaching: Collin Klein gets talked about every year as some sort of up and coming coaching star. His hire was lauded as a stroke of wizardry by The Elk in the winter of 2023. Apparently, none of the people talking in that way bothered to look anything up about the guy. He had his playcalling duties removed at KSU. KSU had no issues with helping the guy pack when he let them know that ATM had reached out. Then the aggie fans watched last season and perpetually scratched their heads about the offense. Klein likes to use the QB in the run game a lot. Reed has the speed for it, but he’s bound for injury with overuse. The OL is expected to be a force, but those expectations seem lofty. The skill talent is being hailed as a source of strength for the aggie roster as well. The WRs might be better, but that’s a guess right now. There’s nothing interesting at TE. Moss is a good one at TB. All in all, the offense has a chance to be above average if they can stay healthy, but expecting some type of top 25 performing unit, which is how they’re talking, seems farfetched.
  2. Overrated: -Georgia -Oregon -LSU -Miami -South Carolina (should not even be ranked) -Ole Miss (should not even be ranked) -Tennessee (should not even be ranked) -Texas 8&4 (should not even be ranked) Underrated: -Alabama (yep) -Arizona State -Indiana -Iowa State -Missouri (their schedule virtually guarantees a 9-3 floor if Pribula is just decent) -Louisville (see Mizzou) -Nebraska -Minnesota -Baylor -Washington -Georgia Tech
  3. Day 4 practice notes spoilered below. Highlights: -Quelle surprise! Deion Burks has found his way off of the field via undisclosed injury. -Injuries are piling up across the board for the okies already. They're being quiet about whatever the injury is to the starting RT, Simmons. He wasn't even at practice today. -A starting CB is in a boot, the potential starting NB/Cheetah is having problems with his previously broken lower leg, 4 WRs are on the sideliness, a key DT rotation guy, 3 TBs and 2 TEs. Seems fine. -Kanak apparently ran the wrong route call during a drill, which made me laugh. -Jay Valai coaching for them also made me laugh.
  4. First time ever to be preseason #1 in the Coaches Poll. That is cool shit. Sucks about Cojoe. There's always a few guys for each team that go down in fall camp, so I've been preparing for a few mentally. Didn't want it to be a potential starter at RT.
  5. Guys, if you don't end the chili talk, with or without beans, a bunch of the psycho food snobs from the Food & Travel board are going to wind up manifesting here and really nauseating this thread.
  6. Hendrix. Yeah, Dylan wrote it, but there’s only one meaningful version of that song. Poseurs like Dave Matthews Band and U2 can get fucked. I’m someone who rolls the dice every now and then.
  7. In the quiet of an offline conversation, Sarkisian is capable of expressing genuine disdain for the ATM football program. He’s not a fan of Elko either. A lot of it carries over from Fisher and Elko fucking the state of affairs for everyone while he was still at Bama. A lot of their bullshit about him with recruits and the media (feeding negative shit to their people in the media and the national guys) started when he was there and carried over to Texas. Fisher is a piece of human shit. Excluding Elko from that label for the time being, but he’s not some jolly kind man just because he’s fatter than Santa Claus. So it is funny to me that the aggie fanbase is so desperate to hate him. They have a pathological need to both deify their coaches and vilify the Texas coaches. Sarkisian will never say a negative thing about them in public, yet they’ll manufacture their anger because of some psychological shortcoming as a fanbase that only they possess. In any event, he gets them in ways it only took the bonfire game for Mack Brown to comprehend. I think he’s going to do everything he can to blow them out everytime Texas plays them.
  8. Sir, the first three songs on my walk this morning were “A Bar Song”, “Pancho and Lefty”, and “All Along the Watchtower”, none of which were new and playing when I was in high school. How dare you!?!
  9. He’s now at Mississippi State where he is yet again about to have a big year.
  10. SC’s favorite go-to shirt is a burnt orange mesh. Think of Scott Glenn’s character from Urban Cowboy. I think he was wearing a classic mesh while he was beating the shit out of Sissy. That plus cargo shorts and his Hey Dudes and he’s a joy to be seen around.
  11. I wouldn’t expect it. I haven’t really thought about one for this game. Maybe Georgia or Florida if the general mood is interesting for one.
  12. We all knew where that was headed, but it sucks anyway. I wanted that guy. I don’t think 2025 will have a big impact on this cycle’s recruits for stable big time programs, but Oregon is going to be overrated this year. I assume they’ll start out 4-0 because they open FCS, Okie State, NW and Oregon State. Then they go to PSU, off, and host Indiana. Indiana wasn’t a fluke. They’ll be a better than .500 team and maybe much better than that. Their HC is legit. Then they go across the country to Rutgers, get Wiscy, off and then go to Iowa. Then they host Minnesota, USC and finish at Washington. That’s not a weak schedule. Beyond that, they’re relying on Moore who is getting the benefit of the doubt as a bounce back after legitimately having one of the worst true freshman seasons in a quarter of a century at UCLA in 2023. They replace most of their OL, the RB, 2 of 3 WRs. They lose their front on defense and multiple guys on the backend too. They’re going to be ranked in the top ten because their name is Oregon. I can see an 8-5 season if I squint.
  13. Measurables, not someone’s projection.
  14. What is he listed as? I saw York’s fall measurements were 5’10”, 227. He’s small but slow, yet I keep seeing people listing their version of Tiny Dynamite as some sort of mid-rounder. Lefau is way better than that dude.
  15. I don’t have numbers in front of me, but Simmons and Hill combined for 7 FF. That’s a pretty good start, if repeated.
  16. The OSU guys are trying to be soft about it, but apparently the OSU defense looks dramatically better than the offense, mostly due to QB and OL play. I think that was also the story in the spring. They did matchups 1’s vs 1’s, 2’s vs 2’s today and the defense was kicking the offense’s ass. A bright spot for the offense was when Smith beat Devin Sanchez deep by 5 yards for a TD.
  17. Of all the guys who have transferred since Sarkisian took over, Gullette and Walton were guys they wanted to keep. I think they’d both be struggling for oxygen in the Edge and LB rooms now anyway.
  18. I was going more for John Hammond about Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park. Messed up the quote a bit though.
  19. Bobby dropped this in his update today: ”There’s a little positive chatter behind the scenes on recruiting. Texas is gaining some confidence on a pair of players currently committed elsewhere.”
  20. Update for today from Bobby with some interesting takes on the younger players. ***** Texas will hold its fourth practice of training camp later today. It’s scheduled to begin at 6:30pm, just like last night. The first two practices were held in the mid-afternoon of the Texas heat. They’re meant to get a team prepared for the worst conditions. The team got a real feel for that. One Texas player was severely dehydrated and subsequently missed the next couple of practices (yes, I know who it is, but, no, I’m not going to name them). Bottom line, the message from coaches is clear: stay hydrated, get your rest and treat your body right because this is an extremely taxing sport, especially in the middle of summer. ** There’s a little positive chatter behind the scenes on recruiting. Texas is gaining some confidence on a pair of players currently committed elsewhere. ** There are so many talented young players on this roster, a few of them are already looking to leapfrog talented veterans or at least solidify a spot in the rotation either as a starter or key back-up. Those players (so far) include: - WR Daylon McCutcheon - TE Emaree Winston - OL Nick Brooks - DT Josiah Sharma - DE Lance Jackson - NB Graceson Littleton Others to watch for: - WR Michael Terry - TE Nick Townsend - OL Jackson Christian - DE-DT Justus Terry - CB Kade Phillips* - S Jonah Williams* * Neither Phillips nor Williams practiced the first two days. But both have been received positive reviews through summer training, enough so to merit inclusion on this list. ** KJ Lacey, Jamie Ffrench, Kaliq Lockett, Jordan Coleman, Zelus Hicks, Myron Charles, and Bo Barnes all look the part early but are not situated to make a major positional impact early. However, Hicks and Barnes could absolutely be major contributors on special teams. Lockett might also get some early run there, too. He was surprisingly good as a gunner and blocker in early punting practice reps. ** We’ll keep our ears to the ground for more practice notes for you. Hook’Em!
  21. Oregon State plays at Texas Tech and then at Oregon in mid-September. It would be great if Murphy could guide them to a win in one of those games.
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