TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger joined TexAgs Radio on Wednesday morning for another edition of Recruiting Country, highlighting the latest news and notes from the recruiting trail surrounding Texas A&M.
Key notes from Recruiting Country
- Caden Durham and Colin Simmons from Duncanville have committed to LSU and Texas, respectively. It's getting late early with those kinds of players. You can say it's early. So much can happen in recruiting, so there is time. Still, when they commit elsewhere and to a rival, it gets late early.
- I will say that A&M was never really in the picture for Simmons outside of like a two-week window when he came to visit. When he cut it down to his final three schools, A&M wasn't in it. If A&M is a team of note in college football this year, I don't think they're really out of it. Texas will have to fight to hold on to him.
- Texas is going all-in with Steve Sarkisian. From recruiting, their roster to their schedule that I think benefits them in terms of talent. I think Texas has the pieces this year to make a run. It's hard for me to look at their schedule and imagine them losing more than two games. They're riding a wave. They're aggressive on the recruiting front, and they know what their roster needs to look like coming into the SEC next year. This is a big push. Still, nobody is going to give up on a player like Simmons, just like nobody is going to give up on Texas A&M commit Drelon Miller.
- There is going to be a back-and-forth between A&M and Texas. Landing Simmons was a big one for them. A&M landing Myles Davis was a big one.
- Micah Hudson feels like it will be Texas Tech, but the longer it goes on without him committing, it makes me wonder. That might be a kid that will keep an eye on what happens around college football. I don't care how many receivers A&M has committed. Hudson always has a spot. That's the same at Ohio State. Everybody has a spot for a kid like that.
- Durham was a kid A&M really liked, and A&M had him on campus. I never got the feeling that A&M was ever in the driver's seat during that recruitment. It always felt like Oklahoma and LSU.
- There are some kids that, from the jump, feel like they're A&M kids. I felt that way with Tyanthony Smith and Miller. I felt like A&M did a great job from the beginning. Smith got close to committing to USC, but he always felt like an A&M kid. Those Duncanville kids never felt like A&M kids, but that doesn't mean A&M can't sign them. I didn't think Denver Harris felt like an A&M kid, but they signed him.
- There is a lot riding on the seasons in College Station and Austin this year. All the work you do in the summer can be enhanced or undone by what happens on the field in either spot. If they both do well this season, they'll both sign top-five classes.
- Kobe Black is a recruitment that has swung back and forth a bunch. It just depends on what side of the clock you're on that day, week or month. I think it was with Texas and swung back to A&M for the pool party. Now it seems like it's with Texas, but we're not expecting a decision right now. If it takes longer and he takes a visit, that opens the door for it to swing back to A&M. This has some ups and downs coming, and you have to be able to ride the rollercoaster. This coaching staff looks like it's in it for the long haul, and he could make an instant impact. There is a path to playing at corner as a true freshman under Jimbo Fisher.
- Isendre Ahfua committed on Saturday. Whenever you plunk a kid from an area, you never know. Nabbing Mark Nabou a couple of years from Seattle O'Dea has paid dividends. There is no way you get Ahufa without getting Nabou first. This kid came to campus a couple of years ago and fell in love with A&M. I like the journey this kid has been on. I love his tape and him as a prospect and player. He plays with so much raw strength and power. He has reshaped his body and reshaped his skillset to give him some versatility to be either a guard or tackle. I like what they're doing. They're going to get tackle-type bodies that they can move around.
- With Ahufa, Weston Davis and Ashton Funk, they all check a ton of boxes. When I go watch an offensive lineman play, you look for the crazy athleticism, and if they don't have that, you look for their understanding of the game of football, angles and leverage. This group is a very good mixture of all that stuff. Davis is an elite athlete, and his feet and agility are outstanding. Funk and Coen Echols are extremely cerebral kids. They have four committed, and they're still after Blake Ivy. I'm a fan of the group as it stands now.
- Michael Bishop was at Kansas State, and I remember watching him. He was incredible and put them on the map. Bill Snyder had a JUCO pipeline to build his rosters with, and Bishop played at Blinn. If A&M didn't beat them for the Big 12 title, K-State goes to play for the national title. I've known Coach Bishop since he has been at Legacy, and he had great things to say about Josh Moses as a kid.
- When you talk to Moses, the most interesting thing about him is what he does off the field. He plays three instruments and is in a band. He wants to own a BBQ restaurant in the future. Getting the insight and analysis from Bishop who is around Moses on the day-to-day was pretty cool.
