TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger 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
- We are starting a show soon. We are looking at doing something in the evenings for folks who get off work. It won't be super A&M central, but the plan is something to interact with and for our audiences. It will be getting into what's in the world of sports. We want it to be something different from Loochador and TexAgs. That's what we are workshopping this week. It will be in the studio, but will look very different. We will have live guests and people come in.
- It will be fun and laid back when people are commuting home from work, and will be accessible on YouTube and the site. It's something in the afternoon where we haven't done something like this. We did watch alongs live on YouTube before games, but we have never gone to a live show on YouTube in the evening, and it will be really cool. We don't have all the parameters, but it is trending in the direction of a start this next week.
- How many times have we heard from the national media that he talks about roster retention and didn't want to lose as many guys? We talk about Noah Thomas, but outside of that, it's a lot of those guys returning. We are looking at restoring retention for the NFL guys with Trey Zuhn III and Ar'maj Reed Adams, and guys who chose to come back and could have gone to the NFL.
- They have done a good job on roster retention, but then there's recruiting. It will be important because the team is old and you have to backfill those positions. They've done a great job of gathering talent and having a top-five class. They've had some misses and didn't get some guys. That's recruiting. Now, in order to get into that top five, they have to retain what they got. You see some of their commitments, and they will take trips elsewhere. We saw it with KJ Edwards.
- Edwards and Kaeden Johnson came out publicly to take other visits. You have Chance Collins visiting Miami, and Miami and South Carolina are still pursuing Tamarion Watkins. You have to hold onto Caleb Tafua out of California. There's work to do to hold onto what you got. With the way rev share and NIL go, there will be less late flip-flopping, but there will be some. That's why I think retention is important.
- What I've been doing is putting myself in the position of Derek Miller. We don't know how we can best strengthen our positions with kids looking around and its consistent messaging. You may need to come up with a plan that will strengthen the kids' looking around while also forming a contingency or insurance plan if something goes wrong. While you have a necessity to do that, you have experience in that arena. Look at what happened to Husan Longstreet. Then, you scrambled for a quarterback. It's not an ideal scenario, but it's something to learn from. A&M needs to make sure that doesn't happen again. “While we have time on our hands, let's go through the state of Texas, and there will be senior season movers or guys going in the right direction.” We saw it last year with Nelson McGuire.
- What I want to do is go through the offer list in the state. Understand the need for offensive line, defensive tackles and wide receiver. When looking in the state for those positions, we need to examine what could happen and what these insurance plans look like. The way I broke it down in my article on the site is the “circle back players.” They are kids who had or have A&M offers who, throughout recruitment, never got a big push, but A&M is familiar with it.
- Some of the poisons are quarterbacks in Keisean Henderson. He's the most top-profile commit ever. He's outstanding and a sensational athlete. I don't anticipate Helaman Casuga waffling to A&M, but it's an insurance policy. What happens if Victor Singleton is sitting at the attention of Ohio State, and what happens if he visits Columbus? You have to keep the pots warm.
- There's a list of players also who don't have A&M offers, but I've either seen them play live and say, “This kid has a chance.” There are two to make note of. One is Jason Bradford, a cornerback out of Temple. If he's running better, he's a real player. He checks all the physical boxes. I'm wondering if he's into some safety stuff, and he's like a Marcus Ratcliffe-type body. I saw him in 7-on-7, playing safety, and it intrigued me. Let's see if he's Antonio Johnson style.
- The other I want to point out is defensive tackle, Daryl Campbell at Katy Paetow. I had two people reach out to me about whether I had seen this kid. The last time I saw him was at camp two years ago. He's turned into a really intriguing body and play style. DJ Hicks, Deyjhon Pettaway and Daymion Sanford are all from Katy Paetow. You think A&M would go to that position you need, and if they decide to enter the race, they can get him. I want to make a note of Campbell. Keep an eye on him.
- KJ Ford was one who was interesting, and I never felt A&M was on the gas pedal. Maybe, if they all were in on him and got him off the Florida commitment, I know they did love him from the beginning. He's from Duncanville, and A&M does have success with them. I feel he has so many connections that they could, or if they wanted, they could get him.
- Legend Bey, A&M was in a good spot with him, and he committed to Tennessee. Maybe with the seasons and A&M, you never know what the relationship is... On the circled back list, I have guys ahead of Bey. Aljour Miles, receiver out of Kaufman, who's committed to SMU. I think A&M, if they got a spot on him, and maybe Boobie Feaster and maybe Jayden Warren out of Iowa Colonies, committed to Houston. Those would be ahead of Ford and Bey.
- It's like everything. We said with Jimbo Fisher's last class, they have to win games to keep things together, they didn't, and it fell apart. You can look around the SEC and see the decommits from A&M are now all conferences around the league. I think Mike Elko has the program in the right spot. They have to back it up, and they aren't fighting a perception battle.
- I'm pumped that Texas High School Football scrimmages started last week. I will see a local highly recruited player in a scrimmage. Jason Howell, in our group chat, tries to get schedules together. We are one week away from Texas High School Football and collegiate football. It starts a week from tomorrow. There are stories we are following. Keep an eye on Fort Bend Ridge Point. They lost Austin Carlisle, now a quarterback at Houston.
- I'll tell you what, Fort Bend Ridge Point’s roster on both sides is as good as anyone in Texas. How good can the skill positions be? They have 11 Division I commits and have a few more underclassmen with offers. A few 2028s who are top 10 in the state. When looking at who can beat the North Shore and Atascocita at the 6A level in Houston, it's them.
- In Dallas, your favorites are the same this year. Prosper is a team that can get deep but can't break through. Maybe Prosper is that group. They have a good offensive line led by Zaden Krempin. The surprising thing is, when looking at the state finals, the Hill Country had a good year. Smithson Valley won the state championship, Vandegrift... Austin Westlake lost in the finals. Who will emerge from central Texas and lift the trophy in AT&T Stadium?
- The small schools I'm interested in. Columbus had a legendary, good team last season. Can they bounce back, and can you replace their quarterback, Adam Schobel? They blew the doors off everyone. Is it a one-year wonder or not?
- I've been a high school football fan all my life. I went to the Nederland games, and we would rush home and watch the recap of all the games.
