How good are the Aggies?

[Sean Adams]

2014 will be very telling. They could have 3 draft picks (best QB and WR in history of the school) in the Top 10 of the 2014 draft but went 9 - 4 (4 - 4 in the SEC and 1 - 4 against Top 25) in 2013. How much of a drop-off is there or have they recruited strong enough to fill the gap?

 

[Lukus Alderman]

That's a very good question. They haven't had a good defense since Sumlin came in, but they do have talent.

This year will be a big year in showing just how well Sumlin's staff has been able to develop who they started with.

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Aggies won't have the individual stars this year, but I think their overall 22 could be better. They miss UF, UGA & UTenn, but have roadies at SoCar, Auburn & 'Bama as well as PigU in Arlington. Without Manziel, all 4 of those look like losses, so the key to getting back to 8-4 could be the LSU game at Kyle.

 

[JimsTexas]

2014 will be very telling. They could have 3 draft picks (best QB and WR in history of the school) in the Top 10 of the 2014 draft but went 9 - 4 (4 - 4 in the SEC and 1 - 4 against Top 25) in 2013. How much of a drop-off is there or have they recruited strong enough to fill the gap?

Sean do you thing they will be better. I sure hope not I get great satisfacition in seeing them lose. The best part is when they go into melt down mode now that is really fun. This is a collage that wants to be accepted but as a power in football. Not only do they make up championships to make them look good and the only time they have been worth squat is when the aggies cheat. I am not sure that they are not already going down that road to problems with the NCAA . Do y'all get the idea that I don't like aggies well you would be right. I have been watching Texas football since 1957 and in all those years the aggies had to walk in Texas foot steps and I like it that way. My friends y'all have agreat week. 

 

[Lukus Alderman]

Aggies won't have the individual stars this year, but I think their overall 22 could be better. They miss UF, UGA & UTenn, but have roadies at SoCar, Auburn & 'Bama as well as PigU in Arlington. Without Manziel, all 4 of those look like losses, so the key to getting back to 8-4 could be the LSU game at Kyle.

Man, I was hoping they would play at Knoxville this year. I wanted to try and make that game decked in my burnt orange.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

2014 will be very telling. They could have 3 draft picks (best QB and WR in history of the school) in the Top 10 of the 2014 draft but went 9 - 4 (4 - 4 in the SEC and 1 - 4 against Top 25) in 2013. How much of a drop-off is there or have they recruited strong enough to fill the gap?

Too much conversation and speculation about the little aggies on this board.

Their defense sucked last year and I don't see it improving with their noted lack of discipline.  The offense should be fine since that's Sumlin's specialty, but how do you replace an improviser like Manziel and a WR nightmare like Evans?  Are the OL prospects as good as the players recruited by Sherman?  A lotta question marks.

Neither Kenny Hill nor RSJ appear to be up to the task.  I guess we'll see.  

 

[HornNdriftwood]

I don't think Sumlin has recruited quite as well as Sherman on the offensive side of the ball, especially on the OL (which is key). They've brought in better talent on the defensive side but their D coaches have a lot to prove. Sumlin has brought in big classes, a lot of bodies, so maybe there's a diamond in the rough we don't know about. But they struck lightening 2 yrs. ago, so doubtful they have another Heisman winner on the team.

Kyle Allen has a lot of potential but just a true freshman. Expect Kenny Hill back in time for summer camp, so he probablly gets the start.

They won a bunch of games the last 2 yrs. by simply outscoring folks and several of those games required Manziel to rally the team in the 4 quarter. I don't see that kind of moxie on the roster. Because of their schedule, they could win anywhere btw 6 & 9 games. Tough opening game, if things start to go wrong early in the season (injuries/suspensions) it could snowball.

 

[doc longhorn]

I cannot be totally objective about the aggys because I think the bulk of their leadership is a bunch of lying, low life, back stabbing hypocrites and cowards to boot.  Any school that had Gene Stallings as a regent exemplifies my point.

However, I believe the aggy's will be very good this year and even better next year.  They have just recruited too well not to be and I wouldn't be surprised if they won the western division of the SEC in 2015. 

Their biggest drawback will be Sumlin.  He will never have a very good defense and his track record at U of H and A&M proves it.  His philosophy is a good offense is also a good defense - ala Leach, Briles, Helfrich, Kelly and Holgorson.  They all believe in the mantra of just score more points than your opponent and you win.  In other words an 80 to 65 win is still a win, no matter how bad your defense is.

So, IMO, there are only so many minutes of practice time and a high scoring offense needs LOTS of practice - for installs and repetitions.  Therefore defensive practice is put on the back burner and the results speak for themselves.

This is the way Sumlin recruits as well - weighted towards the offense.  Sure, he would love an Alabama type defense, but who has the time to recruit and prepare for that? 

No, Sumlin is a brilliant offensive coach, but there are just too many coaches, like Strong, that are better than him overall.  That's why he would never hack it in the NFL.

 

[PropositionJoe]

i think our OL will have a minimal drop off this year. ced o is moving from RT to LT and should be another top 10 pick in 2015. interior of the line stays about the same.

WRs are a big question mark. lots of unproven youth.

strength of the offense this year is at RB. hopefully we'll do a better job of getting the ball to them than we did last year. neat fact: against LSU johnny was dinged up and completely ineffective throwing the ball yet we only handed the ball off to our RBs 6 times total. insane. 

QB is going to be more of a game manager/distributor than playmaker as it was last year. 

defense should be better because it sure as hell couldnt be any worse. 

 

[WildEyedBuffalo]

I think the ags win 7 games this year, and a lot of their momentum will be lost. Recruits will see this and start to look elsewhere, and the SEC novelty wears off because nobody wants to be the Mississippi State of Texas. My guess is the recruiting shifts back to Baylor, Oklahoma and of course Texas after Strong wins 10 games his first year and shocks the world.

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

I think their best football is in front of them.

However, that may not add up the an SEC Championship.

I do know this, we need to get back in the mix on the top state recruits.

 

[Shevis Irons]

defense should be better because it sure as hell couldnt be any worse. 

How many times have I heard this? If you believe it can't get worse then you are in a state of denial beyond any counsel. If the offense fails to put the kind of numbers up that it has the last two years then the pressure put on the defense could cause the team to implode. I've seen it to many times. Even at Texas.

Deep down in side I know you are concerned about this to the point you will lose a few hours of sleep between now and the beginning of the season.

Just as I will lose a few hours over our QB situation going into the season.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Admittedly, I'm more interested in how OU or OSU will be next year than I am Aggy. If we played them, it'd be different. Nevertheless, I can't see how it's possible for a team such as theirs to lose a Heisman winner, gain a tougher schedule - and expect to do as good or better.

 

[PropositionJoe]

How many times have I heard this? If you believe it can't get worse then you are in a state of denial beyond any counsel.

i dont think our defense can get worse. our offense might get worse, which would impact team performance, but there's no way that our individual defensive performance could be any worse than it was last year. 

we regressed significantly from 12-13. i'm hoping that a bit of new blood, both on the coaching side and on the player side, will make us a bit better. 

 

[UTPhil2006]

They still have 5 full months of potential suspensions to worry about.

 

[doc longhorn]

i dont think our defense can get worse. our offense might get worse, which would impact team performance, but there's no way that our individual defensive performance could be any worse than it was last year. 

we regressed significantly from 12-13. i'm hoping that a bit of new blood, both on the coaching side and on the player side, will make us a bit better. 

Yes, your defense CAN get worse.  Although last years aggie defense, at best, was mediocre, it wasn't God awful.  An offense that scores quickly, and the aggie offense certainly did, pretty much keeps a defense on the field most of the game.  So, what I always saw was an aggie defense that was gassed by the 3rd quarter.  Just like the Bama defense was chasing Manziel the entire game - and you certainly couldn't call the Bama defense bad. 

 

[PropositionJoe]

Although last years aggie defense, at best, was mediocre, it wasn't God awful.

i will accept your compliment  

seems like we were god awful and got lucky with opportunistic turnovers. 

we'll have more depth than we had last year, but it's young unproven depth. 

 

[Agmaniacmike]

Ags will struggle to win 7 this year with a true freshman QB likely starting, a lack of QB depth, a defense without any leaders expecting to rely once again on an influx of freshman talent, and a salty conference schedule. If we can see development and progression across the board then I expect a big jump as the season goes on and to enter the 2015 season in serious discussions of being in the mix for a conference title.I have my doubts about the defense, not in terms of talent, but in coaching, that job by Snyder last year was atrocious and I saw next to no improvement in technique and play recognition in our freshman from Rice to Duke, especially in our LBs (Hagen was a terrible hire).

 

[UTPhil2006]

They still have 5 full months of potential suspensions to worry about.

That literally took less than 12 hours to come true.