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Aggy 2024: Still waiting on the Looch 44


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29 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Is it bad that the probably starting center skipped practice?! 

I think the funniest thing is Foster's mom has started this narrative that his "focus is on track" and "that's his future as an Olympic athlete." 

He finished 21st in the shot put at the NCAA outdoor championships.  His future isn't in track and field either because he's not nearly as talented as his family thinks. 

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10 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Sorry, did the guy really skip practice? If they’re publishing aggie practice notes, can someone paste them over here? 

There’s no way Foster is contemplating quitting again, is he? I will lose it if that is the case. 

 

 

He was out.

 

Texas A&M preseason practice observations: Aggies banged up, first impressions of new indoor facility and more

Carter Karels (Aggie 247)

 

Spoiler

 

Texas A&M preseason practice observations: Aggies banged up, first impressions of new indoor facility and more

Carter Karels
 


COLLEGE STATION, Texas – For the first time ever Friday, reporters watched the Texas A&M football team practice in its new indoor Coolidge Football Performance Center in the Graham Athletic Complex.

Media members were permitted to observe, film and take pictures for the first four periods (approximately 30 minutes) of the practice before leaving. GigEm247 reporters Carter Karels and Brian Perroni attended the practice and will post the pictures and videos that they shot, which includes a look at the indoor facility.

During their limited and controlled viewing window, the Aggies did not have any competitive situations like one-on-one, seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 work. But it marked the first time that the media has watched them since they held an open practice Sunday in Kyle Field.

Here are some notes and takeaways from the session.

Participation
Disclaimer: GigEm247 did not see sophomore safety Jared Kerr at practice but could not confirm if he attended it and participated. Kerr fully participated in the first two media-observed practices. He did not dress out Sunday.

Below is a full list of scholarship players who missed practice or were limited because of injuries or other reasons.

Out for the season: None announced.

Still out after missing a previous media-observed practice: Offensive lineman Finn Dirstine (missed two straight media-observed practices) and defensive lineman Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy (missed two straight media-observed practices).

Out for the first time, at least among media-observed practices: Nickel cornerback Bryce Anderson, center Bryce Foster, tight end Jake Johnson, right tackle Chase Bisontis, tight end Max Wright, wide receiver Micah Tease and cornerback Deuce Harmon.

Returned to practice after missing the most recent one that the media observed: Safety Demani Richardson and right tackle Reuben Fatheree II. 

Limited participant: Running back Rueben Owens II.

Lining up
The first three units on the A&M offense – but not the defense – ran multiple plays against air. There were a few notable differences in how the Aggies lined up compared to previous media-observed practices.

Junior running back Amari Daniels typically works with the first-team offense, but sophomore Le’Veon Moss earned the starter reps this time. Fifth-year senior receiver Ainias Smith spent some time with the running backs. Smith caught passes from the quarterbacks against air at receiver and running back.

With Foster and Bisontis out and Fatheree still working his way back, redshirt freshman Mark Nabou and redshirt sophomore Dametrious Crownover received first-team reps at center and right tackle, respectively.

Here is how the offense lined up.

First-team offense: Quarterback Conner Weigman, running back Le’Veon Moss, wide receivers Noah Thomas and Evan Stewart, tight ends Donovan Green and Theo Melin Öhrström, left tackle Trey Zuhn III, left guard Kam Dewberry, center Mark Nabou, right guard Layden Robinson and right tackle Dametrious Crownover.

Second-team offense: Quarterback Max Johnson, running back Amari Daniels, wide receivers Jordan Anthony and Jahdae Walker, tight ends Donovan Green and Jaden Platt, left tackle Aki Ogunbiyi, left guard Jordan Spasojevic-Moko, center Remington Strickland, right guard TJ Shanahan and right tackle Reuben Fatheree II.

Third-team offense: Quarterbacks Jaylen Henderson and Marcel Reed, running back David Bailey, wide receivers Raymond Cottrell and Pierce Turner (walk-on), tight ends Fernando Garza III and Nathan Figueroa (walk-on), left tackle Colton Thomasson, left guard John Sabra (walk-on), center James Bailey (walk-on), right guard Derek Ferraro (walk-on) and right tackle Hunter Erb.

Other notes/observations 
I primarily watched the offense today. Here are some notes/observations:

Injury/availability context: Four days removed from their first practice in full pads, the Aggies looked fairly banged up Friday.

Players suffering injuries – minor and major – are expected after a team starts going full contact. But several key players either did not participate during the media-observed window or received limited work.

Jake Johnson, who has received a lot of reps with the first-team offense throughout preseason camp, will be worth monitoring. The sophomore did not participate in practice and seemed to have a lower body injury. He limped considerably while walking.

Bisontis missed practice, which might be because he suffered an apparent knee injury Sunday. The freshman went down after competing against defensive end Enai White in a 1-on-1 rep, but he returned and finished the practice approximately 20 minutes later.

Owens dressed out for practice but received sideline work. However, the freshman seemed to move fairly well. He fully participated in the previous three media-observed practices and did not seem to suffer a serious injury Sunday.

Richardson returned after missing the first three media-observed practices in preseason camp. He seemed to be moving gingerly at times. Fatheree continued to ramp up his activity level in practice. He participated in 11-on-11 walkthroughs and position drills but lined up with the second-team offense.

New indoor facility impressions: The Coolidge Football Performance Center lived up to the hype. The Aggies now have a much better indoor facility that seems to rank up there with the best in college football. They also have a lot more space now, which should help them have significantly better efficiency in practices.

One important note: The Coolidge Football Performance Center has not been fully completed. It still needs some cosmetic polishing and air conditioning. A&M installed various fans in the facility, which kept the indoor temperature from being unbearable.

First look at the new Coolidge Football Performance Center in the Graham Athletic Complex. Very, very impressive. pic.twitter.com/jSAyr2Hy9V

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) August 11, 2023

Quarterback musings: Without competitive settings, it is difficult to take much from the quarterbacks. But it is notable that for three out of the four media-observed practices, Weigman has lined up as the starter over Johnson.

All four scholarship quarterbacks primarily worked out of the shotgun but handled some snaps from under the center. They threw dozens of passes against air to players from various positions, especially the receivers.

Weigman can sling it. The ball flies out of his hand, and his quick release continues to stand out. On a couple throws against air, though, Weigman struggled to anticipate and time the route of his receiver. This throw to Stewart should have come much earlier. Of course, LSU fans had some fun with it in the comments.

QB Conner Weigman to the twitchy-as-all-get-out Evan Stewart. pic.twitter.com/yHOAKgjqgR

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) August 11, 2023

The top two quarterbacks otherwise delivered accurate and timely passes for the most part. Johnson timed this throw to receiver Moose Muhammad III well.

Good timing from QB Max Johnson on this throw and a nice route from WR Moose Muhammad III. pic.twitter.com/hpCGejGeCt

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) August 11, 2023

Fresno State quarterback transfer Jaylen Henderson and freshman Marcel Reed are competing for third-team reps.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Henderson has the best size among the quarterbacks. However, his throwing mechanics seemingly need work. Reed has some zip on his throws. He can put too much heat on his short and intermediate throws at times, but his arm strength is apparent on passes to the far sideline. I look forward to seeing more of what Henderson and Reed look like as runners.

Freshman QB Marcel Reed has some nice zip on the ball. pic.twitter.com/4vbf64gHHb

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) August 11, 2023

Playmaking receivers: Throughout preseason camp and this offseason overall, the Aggie receiver unit has only continued to inspire optimism. My hot take? They are the best receiving corps in the SEC.

From the suddenness of Stewart to the smoothness of Muhammad to the jump-ball ability of Thomas to the versatility of Smith, this receiver group is loaded with weapons who offer a variety of skill sets. The backups behind them are better than expected, too.

I raved about Thomas following the open practice Sunday. Stewart deserves just as much – if not more – recognition. He has looked smooth and twitchy on almost every route he has run . Even if Stewart does not execute his route to perfection, his quickness and start-stop ability will likely be enough for him to create decent separation from defenders.

Under new coordinator Bobby Petrino, A&M would be wise to use Stewart in creative ways. Like how he took a jet sweep during 11-on-11 walkthroughs.

Texas A&M first-team offense, with Evan Stewart taking a jet sweep. pic.twitter.com/7FP3R9qF56

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) August 12, 2023

Grand Valley State transfer receiver Jahdae Walker made one of the more impressive catches against air. Johnson threw a deep pass to Walker, who needed to turn his body before jumping in the air and high-pointing the ball for a catch.

 

 

 

Texas A&M's open practice: The defensive line dominates one on ones

Tarp (Aggie 247)

 

Spoiler

 

Texas A&M's open practice: The defensive line dominates one on ones

Tarp (Aggie 247)
 

Texas A&M has made defensive line recruiting a priority during Jimbo Fisher's time in Aggieland and it shows when you watch them on the practice field. It's a group that's got length, athleticism, and numbers. No unit passes the eyeball test better than them.

In Sunday's one on ones, the group won almost every rep it had. It wasn't just their size and agility that did the trick...they also played with better pad level, get off, hands, and leg drive. In situations where they were basically heads up on blockers they used those attributes to drive people back and theoretically make the quarterback move around, hit him, or sack him.

There's not much space for individual moves or for guys to take wide stances and looping rushes. Thus, it was impressive when Enai White came off of the ball, used a spin move to come clean, and got to the blocking dummy before a quarterback could have set themselves or much less thrown the ball. It was pure agility combined with technique that really caught your eye. His 11 on 11 work was also pretty good as he worked from a two point stance to usually come off of the ball hard and at least generate depth into the backfield.

Freshman DJ Hicks lined up at defensive tackle and his get off and ferocity are impressive. He won battles versus much older players by attacking a shoulder, winning first contact, and using bend to keep moving and get to the dummy. It's going to be hard to keep him out of the rotation due to his quickness.

Defensive tackle Walter Nolen is listed at 290 pounds but generates a lot of push with the way he plays. He comes off of the ball hard and gets into blockers before they get set and they just keep going backwards.

LT Overton isn't a burst guy but has really good agility. He's a difficult matchup.

Defensive tackle Samu Taumanupepe drew a lot of attention due to his size which he used to great advantage coming off of the ball and pushing people back. However, he's really got to re-shape his body so that he can play multiple snaps at a time.

In the 11 on 11 work, A&M moved people in and out of the lineup but the results were consistent versus the first and third units at the south end of Kyle Field....they usually got enough push to play on the offense's side of the ball. They made quarterbacks move around in order to deliver the ball and in doing so they often had to move away from the their first read. In addition, they couldn't hold it in order to make downfield throws.

There were long runs by what would be considered the second and third units. Part of that was the ability of frosh Rueben Owens to find holes but there was less penetration from the defensive side the deeper you went into the depth chart. However, backs got to the second level at times as well seemingly due to the run fits. As a result, the backers didn't really catch your attention as much as they have in past open practices.

In talking to people, one person made the comment that A&M has a lot of guys with three and five tech attributes but has fewer bodies to be pure nose and edge players. In particular, the front line can get push but beating someone off of the edge and coming free seemingly didn't happen very often. A&M continues to be a defense that wants to try to contain the quarterback. White is someone who could make a difference in this regard.

McKinnley Jackson is the man at the zero or one tech. They don't have anybody else at his level. He's got to stay healthy for the rest of the defense to work.

Most of all, the run fits and technique have to be there. Those things will determine where A&M goes on defense this season.

 

 

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It felt like foster never really wanted to play college football or attend aggy. And he had plenty of options that involved neither. If his family forced this on him, I can see how that could result in anything from a lack of motivation to actual depression. 
 

so should we pity the guy?  

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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Sorry, did the guy really skip practice? If they’re publishing aggie practice notes, can someone paste them over here? 

There’s no way Foster is contemplating quitting again, is he? I will lose it if that is the case. 

CTJ incoming

 

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23 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

One important note: The Coolidge Football Performance Center has not been fully completed. It still needs some cosmetic polishing and air conditioning. A&M installed various fans in the facility, which kept the indoor temperature from being unbearable.”.

A/C is good.

Practicing for their first trip to DKR 🫠

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53 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

One important note: The Coolidge Football Performance Center has not been fully completed. It still needs some cosmetic polishing and air conditioning. A&M installed various fans in the facility, which kept the indoor temperature from being unbearable.”.

A/C is good.

Damn, aggy. It even has "Cool" in the name, yet you fucked it up. 

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7 hours ago, Vertigo said:

Why is every architect in College Station allergic to non cubical designs? I feel I could cause a ruckus by designing an arch into a building there.

An arch sucks, and will be a bust. Not even good for a 2A architectural component. An arch wouldn't be a 5 star structure without the famous name. 

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(Sucks for the kid ... hope he gets well soon.)

Texas A&M tight end Donovan Green expected to miss season after suffering torn ACL

Carter Karels (Aggies 247)

 

Spoiler

 

Texas A&M tight end Donovan Green expected to miss season after suffering torn ACL

Carter Karels (Aggies 247)
 

Texas A&M sophomore tight end Donovan Green is expected to miss the 2023 season after suffering a torn ACL in his knee during the team’s first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday, a source told GigEm247. 

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Green seemed to be primed for a breakout season this fall. He showed plenty of flashes as a true freshman last season. Across 10 games with four starts, Green ranked fourth on the team in catches (22) and receiving yards (233) while totaling two touchdowns.

The Aggies landed Green via their vaunted 2022 recruiting class. 247Sports gave the Dickinson (Texas) High product a four-star rating and ranked him as its No. 5 tight end and No. 116 overall player in that recruiting cycle.

There are five other scholarship tight ends on A&M’s roster who could help fill this void: sixth-year senior Max Wright, redshirt sophomore Fernando Garza III, sophomore Jake Johnson, redshirt freshman Theo Melin Öhrström and true freshman Jaden Platt.

Wright brings the most experience and production among that group. Across eight games last season, he recorded nine receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. Wright has 13 catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns across 40 career games.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Holy hell Max Wright is still around? That dude was a total bust.

Wasn’t he the guy who liked to go to water parks with Taylor Hamm way back when Hamm was still married to his first wife? Back before Hamm started skimming pools for a living? Not too long after Hamm called Malik Jefferson “boy?”

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12 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

 

When Max Wright unofficially visited A&M and was offered, 

- he was a national Top-10 player - Top 10 overall, not just TEs.

 

Not that it really matters but Wright was recruited as a defensive lineman and ranked that way also. Funny post btw!

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5 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Holy hell Max Wright is still around? That dude was a total bust.

Definitely a bust based on his recruiting ranking but if I remember correctly a lot of people predicted this. 

There were already questions about him being a JAG and then he had a major ACL injury his SR year of high school. 

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1 hour ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Definitely a bust based on his recruiting ranking but if I remember correctly a lot of people predicted this. 

There were already questions about him being a JAG and then he had a major ACL injury his SR year of high school. 

Was he the guy who had a video with absolutely horrendous form on his power clean?

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5 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Also got accused of some pretty unsavory conduct towards women but it wasn't proven and KKL assured aggy the accuser was lying so it's all good.

Yeah, both Max Wright and Aki Ogunbunyibunyimiyi have been accused of doing terrible shit to females, by females, and have remained beloved aggies on the roster above suspicion.  

Sad to see the injury bug hitting early and all over the roster.  It’s a good thing they have such excellent depth. 

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25 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

I know there's a lot of bad luck involved, but at what point do you say hiring an assistant strength and conditioning coach wasn't the right move? 

They've had a ton of injuries already in his 2nd year.  

Their strength coach has basically only ever worked for Jimbo. A comfort hire through and through. 

There really isn’t any evidence that he’s any more than a JAG at best, and a liability at worst. 

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I didn't realize A&M was so light on numbers at WR

They have the three returning producers (Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad, Ainias Smith), one guy getting hyped up (Noah Thomas), two true freshman (one enrolled early), a summer transfer from Rio Grande Valley , and a summer transfer from Kentucky who's a second year guy who didn't play his freshman year

So eight scholarship guys, two of which are true freshmen, and two summer transfers who don't appear to be instant contributors 

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4 minutes ago, Fud said:

I didn't realize A&M was so light on numbers at WR

They have the three returning producers (Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad, Ainias Smith), one guy getting hyped up (Noah Thomas), two true freshman (one enrolled early), a summer transfer from Rio Grande Valley , and a summer transfer from Kentucky who's a second year guy who didn't play his freshman year

So eight scholarship guys, two of which are true freshmen, and two summer transfers who don't appear to be instant contributors 

Jahdae Walker transferred in Grand Valley State in Michigan.

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45 minutes ago, Fud said:

I didn't realize A&M was so light on numbers at WR

They have the three returning producers (Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad, Ainias Smith), one guy getting hyped up (Noah Thomas), two true freshman (one enrolled early), a summer transfer from Rio Grande Valley , and a summer transfer from Kentucky who's a second year guy who didn't play his freshman year

So eight scholarship guys, two of which are true freshmen, and two summer transfers who don't appear to be instant contributors 

i know you are doing current counts but they also had that dude who transferred in then out back to UTEP i think?

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