Recruiting Country: The latest recruiting news surrounding the Maroon & White

TexAgs' senior recruiting analyst Jason Howell joined TexAgs Live on Wednesday morning for another edition of Recruiting Country presented by American Momentum Bank, highlighting the latest news and notes from the recruiting trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• Eyes are on Baton Rouge for the Lamar Brown‍ announcement later this week. He’s definitely unique with his skill set and ability to impact both sides of the line of scrimmage.
   
• On the defensive line, you could see Brown lineup legitimately at four different spots. He brings a lot to the table, from explosive power, the way he comes off the ball and the ability to get underneath people. He’s a gifted athlete.
   
• Credit to Texas A&M for even being in the conversation for Brown right now. He’s one of the top prospects in the country, and he’s just a gifted, uniquely talented football player who can do a lot for you.
   
• You see the pop in Brown’s hands. I remember DJ Hicks coming out, and I'd call them “defibrillator hands” where he could stop your heart in a second. Brown brings those heavy hands to the table, where he could stop a guy in his tracks and get him moving wherever he wants.
   
• Brown obviously has been a top priority for A&M. He’s visited multiple times. When was the first time you saw him, two years ago?
   
• It all points to LSU for Brown, but there are reasons for hope, for sure. He’s had glowing remarks about College Station. He has talked about A&M being in his top two. That tends to fluctuate. He may have called A&M a leader during his recruitment. Still, he’s a kid from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. You see those guys growing up in the area who want a change of scenery.
   
• You talk about Jalen Lott‍ and Kaydon Finley‍. These are guys that grew up around the Texas program, and this was somewhat about getting out and spreading their wings.
   
• The most telling thing about Brown and A&M being in the mix is that he has been around and visited so many times. He’s been to game day. He’s been to camp. He’s been to spring practices. He has forged relationships over the years with the coaching staff.
   
• I thought it was 50/50 for Brown on Monday morning, and I was hearing LSU momentum. I meant to direct it as if you think people aren’t confident at LSU, you’re wrong. There’s confidence, but there’s reason to believe A&M is a real factor in this one. If I were to predict, it’d be between those two schools. A&M and LSU are the schools he’s talked about, visited and built relationships with the most. That’s what it's boiling down to for me, but I don’t have a lean for either one.
   
• I'm not doubting that if Brown comes out and says this is the final decision, and this will be it for me. I have no doubt this is what he'll do, but if it's LSU, I know A&M isn’t stopping. Same with if A&M gets him because LSU isn’t stopping. He is a supremely unique prospect. There aren’t guys like him in every cycle. The race will be furious until the very end. He’s going to see continuous recruitment regardless of what happens. If he can put the phone on silent or lock it up and never see it again, that may be the only way to quiet the storm until signing day.
   
• Someone else popped up on the message board comparing Bryce Perry-Wright‍ to Ed Oliver. There were times when you saw his body and said, “Man, he’s kinda lean and small...” But then he’s right there in the trenches doing the work. When I saw Perry-Wright, he looked like he had room to grow worth his frame, and he didn’t look meaty. With Oliver, he hides that weight. He doesn’t look 260. He looks more like 245.
   
• Watch Perry-Wright at practice, and watch what he does. He’s a freak show. A Tasmanian devil that bends the corner and gets to the QB. You can move him inside, and he’s a problem on the interior. He does a good job of doing all these things without losing his responsibilities.
   
• I love what Perry-Wright brings to the table. You see what he does, and then you find out what he actually measures in at. You really, really like it.
   
• I give credit to Tony Jerod-Eddie. He has been on this for several years, since Perry-Wright was a freshman. A&M has been on him for a long time. I also think you see it sometimes, they are more boisterous and confident, whether it's justified or not, which helped push the media for where certain guys lean.
   
• I think Perry-Wright had a pretty strong feeling for A&M, and I think there’s a reason A&M got the last visit. A&M beat out some big-time contenders in Clemson, who recruit that area harder than anybody. You beat out Texas and Miami. They can swing for the fences with the big boys. It's a big-time competition.
   
• I don't know if we'll see anything like A&M’s 2022 class in terms of how many five-stars or ranking, depending on what you look at. There were eight or 10 five-stars in that class and several in the top-15 in the country. This is a special group that A&M is putting together in the 2026 cycle. If they can push it across the finish line and make it official, it will go down in history as one of the top classes in A&M history. It's heavy at the top and has a tremendous amount of priority guys on their defensive front and highly sought recruits. At TexAgs, three five-stars, and Perry-Wright is a five-star on 247. You can see the bumps over the course of the recruiting cycle, and it’s a special group coming together.
   
• It's hard to say they haven't done anything in College Station. When you look at the higher end of the recruiting class, do you have a number of guys who have the upside and ability to be contributors at early stages at A&M? You can't determine that for anyone in the 2026 recruiting cycle right now.
   
• That 2022 class is up there, and you mentioned the 2020 class. Breaking it down and the hits, a lot of those were out-of-state guys. A number of those guys were out of state. In 2021, Tyreek Chappell‍ was one of the better out-of-state guys in recent history. I agree as far as the amount of top out-of-state guys, it's next to the 2022 class as far as big-time talent.
   
• Chance Collins‍, I can see he's done so much on both sides of the ball at Timberview. He's done a lot on both sides, and he has attracted a lot of attention. To me, he brings a lot to the table. You saw A&M, Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech wanted him on their team. A&M was able to pull it out this summer, but he brings a lot to the table in terms of his instincts. He's a 6-foot-2, 195-pound safety who is a solid ball player. He's Edgerrin Cooper's cousin. You've got to love that.
   
• Kaeden Johnson‍ has uncoachable traits. From pure athleticism, he's got things you can't teach. He has a lot to bring to the table, and like you said, as an athlete, you've got to love what he brings. Once things change from being a quarterback to an athlete, those things slide up. A guy who went another direction, Legend Bey‍ was similar, where he moved from quarterback to athlete, and the stock actions changed a bit.
   
• Over the years, DeSoto is at the top of the list of best schools for A&M. They have been very active, and Guyer was the school they dug into. Eli Stowers‍ and Deuce Harmon‍ were in that one class, and they were both from there. In recent history, the Aggies haven't really claimed a school. Under Mike Elko, they can go into any program and do a good job.
   
• With Lamont Rogers‍, they had good relationships with Denton Guyer and Duncanville. Over the years, they had success at Cedar Hill, and next year, you have a big one in Jalen Brewster‍. A lot of schools on the south side of the DFW area are A&M-friendly programs.
   
• Braylon Williams‍ is another one that's at the top of mine. The class as a whole is loaded. I think we have debates in 2026 and discussions of who's at the top. In 2027, it's not so much that there's not one but what could be. You can make a string case for a number of those guys. You mention John Meredith III‍ and Cooper Witten‍. In the offensive line group, you got three or four players who can be No. 1 in-state candidates. It's a phenomenal year for linebackers and defensive backs. It's insane the talent that's around the state, and DFW will bring it.
   
• No doubt Ismael Camara‍ is up there with the way he moves and his intensity on the field. His mentality and approach bring a lot to the table. I hear he will flip over to the defensive line.