Erik McCoy
Perhaps the best story of the bunch, McCoy is a testament of hard work paying off. A two-star recruit from Lufkin, TX, McCoy earned a spot in the starting lineup as a redshirt freshman in 2016. He didn’t relinquish it his entire career and was the best offensive lineman on the team for three years running.
DEAR AGGIELAND pic.twitter.com/W1YFAt6Th8
— Erik McCoy (@Erik_McCoy_73) January 4, 2019
While that might not be saying much, he’s been considered one of the best center prospects that could come out for the 2019 NFL Draft. Most draft experts have him rated in the top three among centers. There is not much more he could do to improve his draft stock. The main reason for him to come back would have been to compete for a championship.
Next year is going to be tough in that regard. The 2019 schedule is brutal, and almost certainly will come with a couple of losses when it includes road games at Clemson, at Georgia and at LSU.
His stock wasn’t going to be any higher, so he made the right move.