Texas A&M Football: Top 5 recruiting targets for 2019 entering the Spring

National Signing Day has come and gone and Jimbo Fisher has moved on to the 2019 Texas A&M football recruiting class. Which players are at the top of the list?

More: Grading the 2018 Texas A&M football recruiting class

The 12^th Man was walking pretty tall on National Signing Day after swiping Bobby Brown from Alabama and Leon O’Neal from Clemson. Even though less than a month has past from the excitement the recruiters in College Station are still punching the clock and working to make 2019’s National Signing Day even bigger.

Names like Brown, O’Neal, and Jalen Preston headline the Aggies’ top recruits in 2018. However, looking into the bright future of Texas A&M, who will be the big names in 2019?

1. Grant Gunnell

Here we go again… The ol’ quarterback situation at Texas A&M has been a doozy for a while, hasn’t it? You could begin talking about the madness back in 2014, but I think the Ags may have found an end to the conversation in St. Pius’ very own, Grant Gunnell. Back when Coach Sumlin was at the helm of Aggie football, he managed to snag the 6-foot-6 gunslinger early in his high school football career. A 4-star recruit, Gunnell has everything you’re looking for in a quarterback.

Size

The size is obviously there. At six and a half feet tall and an impressive 217 lbs, this kid is going to be a force to take down once he finally develops. For comparison, the potential number one overall draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Sam Darnold, is two inches shorter than Gunnell and only outweighs him by three pounds. Give Gunnell a burger and a bottle of water and boom, he’s heavier.

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A lot of guys come out of high school with some height. But weight is a totally separate story. I can remember being super active in high school and it being a struggle to put on weight. I could lift a bunch and eat whatever I wanted but it was just a difficult task for my body to accomplish. The same goes for most high school athletes. Grant, on the other hand, seems to be a step ahead of the game. 220 pounds is still pretty trim for 6-foot-6, but hearing from these collegiate athletes, the diet they put you on will fix all the weight problems.

Gunnell is going to be a big man one day, to say the least. This stature will make him not only incredibly durable, something A&M hasn’t had in a quarterback in a good minute, but it will also make him a booger to bring down. Look at guys like Darnold and Ben Roethlisberger. They may be big but those are men who can take on any sort of weather plus a few defenders on the side. This is something that can’t be taught. It’s pure genetics.

Strength and Running Ability

Size usually equals strength and the same goes for Gunnin’ Grant Gunnell. Watching his highlights, you can see the sheer power he has attached to his shoulder. Again, this is something that is hard to teach. Arm strength is sometimes overlooked but it’s something that always comes in handy. You wouldn’t think a big ol’ boy would be able to run very well. Think again. Is he a runner per say? Certainly not. However, if you ask him to run and pick up some yardage with those long legs, it’s no big deal.

As I mentioned earlier, Gunnell committed to Texas A&M a while back, but recent events and some thinking led him to change his mind. In mid-February he decommitted and opened up his recruitment again. You really can’t blame the guy. With so many options, it would only be smart for him to at least think about going somewhere else. Let’s hope, though, that he comes back home to a fan base and team that would love him like no other.