Texas A&M Aggies
The Aggies have always offered talented linemen to the league
and this year will be no different. Bill Yates is an athletic guard that
plays with solid fundamentals and displays the ability to move in space. Mike
Mahan is a big and powerful tackle best in confined quarters on the right
side. Each will be given late round consideration with Yates having the
possibilities of moving into the middle frames. Teammate Taylor Whitley
is also a strong run blocking guard but his inability to move in space or block
with leverage will more than likely leave him out of the seven rounds. The man
they protect is Mark Farris, to our mind an underrated and overlooked
signal caller. Farris, a former semi-pro baseball player entering his mid-twenty’s,
is a fireball thrower with a decent head on his shoulders. He makes plays in the
pocket or on the move and his accuracy is more than adequate. In scouting
circles Farris is not spoken about enough but should he lead this team the way
he is capable that will change next January. Joe Weber is a hard-working
football player but a ‘tweener as he’s not big enough to play the fullback
position he’s situated at in the Aggie backfield and not fast enough for a
feature runner. They have a slew of receivers that could make a move up draft
boards. Bethel Johnson, a former prop-48 player, returns for a fifth
season and is a solid possession wide out with consistent hands and the ability
to break into the later frames. Dwain Goynes and Terence Murphy
will also get consideration if they can step it up.
Like the offensive line, A&M has a long history of solid
pro-prospects on the first wall of defense with Ty Warren being the best
this year. Warren, effective at either tackle or end, is a lineman with great
explosion and quickness off the snap, displaying the ability to make plays in
the backfield or laterally out to the flanks showing speed in his pursuit of the
action. With the ability to twist or stunt, Warren can be used on the nose or in
a "three technique." Warren is not big, bulky nor strong and is easily
slowed at the point by opponents. He is also hesitant locating the action and
his instincts would not be considered top-notch. That said he has a great amount
of upside potential and plays a position hotly desired on draft day, which will
result in an early pick. Possibly the best pro-prospect on the line could be
third-year sophomore Marcus Jasmin, a huge and dominant tackle that
flashes ability but must get in shape and dedicate himself to being an every
down defender. If he does it will mean a very early pick for Jasmin in the
future. At linebacker Jarrod Penright is the talk of the town and the
pass rushing specialist is a tremendous athlete that displays great explosion
and ferocity in all aspects of his game. Penright has great range and makes
plays in any direction all over the field, quickly arriving on the scene. He is
fast enough to beat running backs to the corner and strong enough to defeat
blocks on his way there. Problem is, as is the history of the A&M defense
with big, strong linebackers, Penright is used more up at the line then in
coverage, hence his pass defense skills have been slow developing. Still,
compared to many of the recent highly ranked Aggie outside linebackers, he
displays better speed, range and upside abilities. Brian Gamble is a
heady linebacker with a penchant for being in the right place at the right time
but has terrible size/speed numbers, which will leave him out of the draft. Sammy
Davis will vie for an early draft selection as he is a top cover-corner with
both skills and instincts. Davis reads the action and puts himself in the proper
position to make a play on the ball when it is in the air, also being a tough
little corner that will mix it up defending either the run or screen passes.
Davis could break into the first 32 choices next April. Terrance Kiel is
a nice sized, athletic safety that likes to lay it on the line but has a
tendency to play the run first, getting caught out of position in deep
centerfield, lacking the pure instincts for a top-notch pass defender.
RC Slocum has taken a lot of grief during his career in
College Station and this is a chance to shut adversaries up. The talent is
available for this program to make a serious run at the Big 12 title and BCS
game; it will all come down to getting the team ready to play and not being
out-coached. That said, the last time we made a "bold" statement like
this was about the 2000 Georgia Bulldogs, a team with Richard Seymour, Marcus
Stroud and coached by Jim Donnan for the last time!
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