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

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 and transfer portal trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• It's interesting when stuff like that starts happening. Some of my buddies will start texting me, asking who is the next one. I have to tell them I am extremely busy right now. You have to understand that every time Texas A&M brings in transfers, it is hard to get information about what will happen once they are on campus and how long they will go. 
   
• We have to be prepped ahead of time for every one of them. It's a lot of prep work. You don't want to be left in the dark when a commit goes public. There is a lot of stuff you don't see that will never ever get used. We had stuff ready for a Denver Harris commitment or an Anton Juncaj commitment. Juncaj is going to Arkansas. 
   
• Once they started landing on other guys coming in, it gave them leverage to say, "Okay. We don't have to take this chance on Harris who has been in here and burned some bridges." I like Denver. I hope he finds a place to play and reaches his full potential. If he is right, he is an NFL player. Once the ball got rolling with the corners and defensive backs you landed, it gave A&M some room.
   
• Nic Scourton and Cashius Howell are elite "get after the quarterback" style players. The type of schools that were after Howell, there are a lot of schools that think he is a down-to-down, impact player.
   
• The addition of Howell is one of the main reasons Elijah Alston decided not to go to Texas A&M. I do not fault any of these kids for the decisions they make in the portal. If you are an older guy in the Sun Belt like Alston, you don't want to come to a place where you have to sit. It was going to be hard at A&M. I think Alston was looking for a more open path to the field. 
   
• Right now, the portal is in a dead period until Friday. Last week, the visitors started showing up on Wednesday. This week, it won't be until Friday night or Saturday morning.
   
• There will be no 2024 visitors. It will be portal guys and 2025s. It seems like the page is turning now and the focus is shifting to that 2025 class. The coaching staff knows they can start making real relationships in that class. The 2025 class is where the staff can start making a mark. It's interesting to see who falls where. There is excitement in covering a new class.
   
• The focus to get this new roster ready is probably at receiver, whether that be through the high school or the portal. I still think we have some Holmon Wiggins surprises coming.
   
• There is no signing day for transfers. You just show up and go to class. There is not a preset NCAA deadline that you have to be enrolled by X date. I think it depends on the school. It may be the add/drop date. School starts next week for Texas A&M.
   
• I would imagine Mike Elko would like to get guys in as soon as possible to work with Tommy Moffitt and get into a routine.
   
• E.J. Smith was off to a really hot start before he got injured. If he is healthy, does he ever end up at A&M? Smith is talented, but he was on some bad Stanford football teams. Knowing that, were you able to see the full scope of his abilities? De'Von Achane, we all thought he was a superstar here. Now, he's in the NFL in a different offense that is built to what he is good at. 
   
• I saw people getting after Scooby Williams at linebacker because of his PFF run grade. You have no idea about the situation that kid was in on and off the field. He is uber-talented. You don't know how he was being used and how engaged he was. 
   
• You see it in baseball. A kid will have good numbers at another school, and they come to A&M and get better. You never know what will unlock some of these kids' capabilities. There are 18 transfers. Some will be impact players, and some may not play at all. Tony Grimes committed last year and did not play a down.
   
• The starters have to be talented, but the depth does too. E.J. Smith has a different skill set than the other backs. He is an old head. How many times did the running backs last year miss blitz pickups? That is a valuable asset to have in a running back. There is something to say about kids from Stanford. The shine has worn off because the program has taken a step back.
   
• I don't know where they are at on Brandon Johnson, the nickel from Duke. We felt pretty good about ending the weekend. You would think no one knows more about him than Mike Elko. I don't know who will play in the secondary. You want options so the cream can rise to the top in spring practice.
   
• Trey Jones is here already. Will Lee is here already. De'Rickey Wright has to graduate this spring from Vanderbilt. He is a big dude. He gives you positional versatility.
   
• Jaydon Hill played a lot of football at Florida. That was a kid that the Gator fan base was upset to see leave. Donovan Saunders is immensely athletic. Marcus Ratcliffe, I talked to him on the phone, he will be a field safety, and he is a young guy. He has three years left. 
   
• For a fair amount of these guys, it's my first time seeing them. Guys like Jordan Lockhart‍. I talked to Tristan Jernigan‍, Ashton Funk‍, Jones and Lee. It was brutal weather yesterday. 
   
• They took the kids from Florida. Do you think Jay Bateman doesn't think they can go somewhere else? 
   
• Ryan Williams‍ reclassified from the class of 2025 to 2024 and committed to Alabama. I would imagine he has had a conversation with Holmon Wiggins. He is unsigned. Does A&M get the ball rolling on a visit here? That would be big news. 
   
• Signing Terry Bussey‍ is no less important than that because he impacts two positions, I believe. Three if you want to count punt returner. Terry could be an impact player on special teams. 
   
• They will make a run at Robert Bourdon‍ out of Tennessee, who has been committed to Duke for a long, long time but did not sign. We are anticipating him taking an official visit, not this weekend, but the next. 
   
• Bussey will take visits, like we said, to Georgia and USC. We still feel A&M is in a pretty good spot. Until we start hearing otherwise, we will stay in that boat. 
   
• I know Bussey is open to playing both ways. He is that kind of talent.
   
• There will be a sprinkling of 2025s coming the next three of the four weekends. They are off to a good start. There are a lot of kids in the 2025 class in Texas that grew up liking Texas A&M. Guys like Landon Rink‍. His dad played at Texas, but he has said he doesn't have to follow that.
   
• I think A&M has a great shot with DJ Sanders‍ out of Bellville. He is a freak of a defensive tackle prospect. We will have more on the 2025s throughout the week.
   
• It was as busy and crazy of a five-day window as I have ever had.