Texas A&M football is 31 days away, and in the days leading up to the Aggie opener we’re answering the 50 biggest questions for the 2018 season.
The Jimbo Fisher era will reach another big moment when fall camp begins this week. The practices leading up to the 2018 season may be more important than they’ve ever been for Texas A&M football.
Not only does the team have several positions up for grabs, but they have one of the tougher schedules to start the year of any team in the country. Clemson, Alabama and Arkansas are all on the slate for September.
So the battles for starting spots, plus Jimbo Fisher and Mike Elko implementing brand new schemes on both sides of the ball, make these practices of the utmost importance.
These are the six position battles you should be watching when camp begins this week.
Safety
Donovan Wilson is pretty set at one of the safety positions. The redshirt senior is going to be one of the leaders on defense, and the only chance he has of not playing safety is if Elko decides to use him at the rover position, which is unlikely.
The safety spot next to him is in open competition. The leading candidate is Derrick Tucker, who flashed brilliance in his true freshman season in 2017 and came on strong towards the end of the year. He was fourth on the team in tackles with 55 and had an interception return for a touchdown that won the game against Ole Miss.
Larry Pryor also has a case to play next to Wilson. He played in nine games in 2016 and 11 in 2017. He was just behind Tucker with 44 tackles.
You also cannot discount incoming true freshman Leon O’Neal Jr., who was by most accounts a phenom in high school. He already received high praise from Fisher and shouldn’t be counted out despite having no experience.