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ATITAGAIN
Sumlin bags another top-tier
class crowned by three 5-stars
Signing Day takeaways
Thoughts from sports editor Brandon Wheeland
Kyler Murray signs — but what about the MLB?
Murray, son of former
A&M QB Kevin Murray,
had an interesting stretch
run to his commitment.
Though he never
wavered from his verbal,
Charlie Strong and the
Texas Longhorns made
a push for the dual-threat
QB's services late, which
included a promise to
start as a freshman.
Murray possesses the talent to have succeeded at any
school, but Kevin Sumlin has to feel better about his
quarterback situation in the future. Kyle Allen had an
impressive freshman year, and Murray will continue that
success when it is his time to shine. Aggies now wait until
June for the MLB draft, where Murray has a strong chance
to go in the first round. Should he still choose college after
the draft passes, he will be a two-sport athlete in his time at
College Station.
Sumlin gets his man in Daylon Mack
Daylon Mack's
recruitment has been
a roller coaster, to
say the least. After
an original verbal
commitment made
to the Aggies fell
through on the
same day LB Malik
Jefferson announced
his intentions to play
for the Longhorns,
Mack eventually ended
up where he started
with intentions to play for Sumlin. Mack targeted TCU and
LSU after decommitting from Texas A&M, a move Sumlin
countered by hiring John Chavis away from the Tigers to
replace Mark Snyder as defensive coordinator.
Christian Kirk makes back-to-back Arizona stars
Five-star wide receiver
Christian Kirk hails from
Scottsdale, Arizona.
That's significant
because of a 2014
signee, Kyle Allen,
which makes two
straight years in which
Sumlin has swiped
the top player in the
state from Arizona.
And because of their
positions, it's not
out of the question to imagine plenty of throw-and-catch
connections on Kyle Field between the two Arizona
natives. Another interesting tidbit: Kirk scored touchdowns
from six positions his senior season. That's impressive.
/j Running the state
Rankings are subjective,
and can only say so much.
After all, Johnny Manziel
and Mike Evans were both
rated three-star recruits
coming out of high school.
A&M claimed commitments
from the Gatorade National
Players of the Year in Texas,
Arizona and Louisiana. It
gained the commitment of
immediate impact players
on defense such as Mack,
Justin Davis, James Lockhart
and more. Stars aside, these
players will come in and
solidify Sumlin's great ability
to recruit.
5
Next Martellus Bennett?
The 6-foot-4 tight end from
Clear Lake has the ability to
create significant offensive
production from the position.
With new coaching addition
Dave Christensen working
as run game coordinator
and offensive line coach,
Davis will have the ability
to develop as a run blocker
as well. Davis is already
enrolled at Texas A&M
and has a great shot at
contributing early.
6
The defense will improve
Talent like Myles Garrett,
Otaro Alaka, Armani Watts
' and more emerged on the
defensive side of the ball.
Some that were expected to
produce before injury such
as A.J. Hilliard will be ready
to go in 2015. Recruits have
been brought in to help out
lack of depth at the lineback
position. On top of all that,
defensive guru Chavis is
ready to run the show. A&M
could very well jump in the
top 40 of defenses for next
year, if not higher. Coupled
with a high-powered offense
that only got stronger, this
team is set to make noise
next year.
By Cole Stenholm
Another year, another hard-
charging class for Kevin
Sumlin.
Texas A&M wrapped up Na
tional Signing Day with 25 sign-
ees — seven of which enrolled
early and are already in College
Station — and a class ranked No.
12 by ESPN.
While Sumlin and his staff al
ready had a decent idea of who
would be finalizing their com
mitments Wednesday, they still
awaited the faxed letters of intent
from a few key pieces in the class.
The recruiting rollercoaster of
five-star, 6-foot-l, 320-pound
defensive lineman Daylon Mack
kept analysts guessing. In the end
the Gladewater, Texas, product
— who once decommitted from
A&M — chose A&M over TCU
and Texas live on ESPNU. The
addition of defensive coordinator
John Chavis helped land Mack.
“In his situation, defensively,
schematically, from a coach who
has a track record of playing not
good defense but great defense
and placing guys in the National
Football League, he saw where
the situation at Texas A&M got
better for him personally. Again,
he came here for all the right rea
sons,” Sumlin said at a press con
ference W ednesday.
Kyler Murray, the three-time
state champion who never lost
a game at Allen High School,
signed his letter of intent after
having entertained the possibility
of pledging to the University of
Texas late in his recruiting pro
cess.
Murray, whose father, Kevin,
played quarterback for the Aggies
from 1983-1986, threw for 4,713
yards and rushing for 1,485 his
senior season. Murray expects to
compete with Kyle Allen for the
starting job under center come
this fall.
“We didn’t even promise
Myles Garrett he would start,
which was hard for me to bite my
tongue on,” Sumlin said. “With
Kyler it was the same conversa
tion we had with Kyle Allen — if
you win the starting job against
Arizona State you’ve got to keep
competing, because the other guy
isn’t going to give in; if you don’t
win it, you’ve got to keep com
peting because you’re only one
play away.”
Murray will have several po
tential throwing targets joining
him in College Station, including
five-star wide receiver Christian
Kirk and four-star tight end Jor-
dan Davis, both of whom are al
ready enrolled to partake in spring
drills.
Kirk ranked as the top prospect
in the state of Arizona, marking
the second straight year the Ag
gies signed the top player from the
Grand Canyon State. Kirk logged
1,187 receiving yards while rush
ing for 1,692 yards in his senior
season at Saguaro High School.
Davis rings in at 6-foot 4, 255
pounds and had 34 receptions for
535 yards and two touchdowns
his senior season.
This year’s recruiting class
slightly favors the defensive side
of the ball. A&M signed 13 defen
sive players who have their work
cut out for them as they join a de
fense that ranked near the bottom
of the NCAA in total yards al
lowed for two consecutive years.
Within the defensive group,
A&M signed four defensive backs,
all of whom are at least 6 feet tall.
Four-star Justin Dunning, who
hails from Whitehouse, Texas, is
the tallest of the group at 6-foot-
4. He is joined by Deshawn Ca-
pers-Smith, Roney Elam, Justin
Evans and Larry Pryor.
All four of the defensive backs
likely will have a shot at filling the
shoes of graduated seniors such as
Deshazor Everett and Floyd Ra
ven in the fall.
The recruiting trail helped
stoke a dormant rivalry with the
University of Texas as the two
teams battled it out for much of
the state’s top talent.
“We’ve got a lot of kids in this
state that are tremendous student-
athletes and a lot of great coach
es,” Sumlin said. “That creates
opportunities for kids in this state
to not have to leave [Texas] to go
play. It creates trouble for us, but
for student-athletes it couldn’t be
a better time to go a lot of dif
ferent places and play at a high
level.”
B ATT ASKS
What do you think of the
A&M recruiting class?
"I think the Aggies defense
this past season could use
some improvement so I
think Daylon Mack will help
improve the team."
Macy Roberts.
engineering freshman
"After all the hype, I have
hope that Kyler Murray can
return A&M where it was
with Johnny."
Dakota Pimsa,
engineering fresnman
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