Texas A&M football: Aggies will need Jalen Preston in 2019
By Jeff Shull
Texas A&M football has all of their wide receivers back from 2018, but one redshirt freshman will need to contribute for the offense to be truly elite.
One of the question marks entering the 2018 season for Texas A&M football was what kind of production would they get from the wide receivers. Not only did they lose Christian Kirk and Damian Ratley to the NFL, but Jimbo Fisher was coming in and completely changing the offense from Kevin Sumlin‘s air raid to a more pro style offense with complicated route concepts.
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There was a learning curve for the group. That, combined with elite tight end prospect Jace Sternberger, and the fact two of the best receivers were injured for a few games in the middle of the season, led to not much production from the group. Quartney Davis led the Aggie receivers with 48 catches for 598 yards and seven touchdowns.
Jhamon Ausbon was a Top 100 recruit once upon a time and was predicted by some to be an All-SEC performer in 2018. Kendrick Rogers exploded against Clemson and looked like he could be a legit No. 1 outside receiver. Both of these players would end up being hampered by injury.
Davis stepped up in their absence. He, Camron Buckley and Hezekiah Jones had their moments, but nobody was a legitimate, consistent threat. That could change in 2019, but it will have to be with Jalen Preston getting in the mix.
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None of the aforementioned players, save for maybe Davis, have the ability to take the top off a defense. The Aggies were desperately missing a deep threat to keep defenses honest in 2018. Elite defenses understood this and made the Aggie passing game predictable.
Preston, the No. 95 overall player in the 2018 class, No. 18 wide receiver and No. 9 overall from Texas, has that type of speed. He is also incredibly strong for his position and has a basketball background. He reminds you a lot of Mike Evans in that sense, and is a guy Mond should trust to win 50/50 balls more than any other player on the roster can.
Most elite offenses in college football have a guy the opposing defenses fear will beat them deep. Alabama had Jerry Juedy and Jaylen Waddle. Clemson had Justyn Ross. Oklahoma had several explosive receivers. Ohio State had Terry McLaurin.
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Fisher needs Preston to step into that role in 2019 and maybe an even bigger one after appearing in just one game in 2018. Don’t let the fact that every single receiver who caught a pass in 2018 is coming back. Preston is too good to keep on the sideline and Texas A&M has to have that deep threat to unlock their full potential on offense.
Jeff Shull is the Site Expert for the Gig Em Gazette on FanSided. Follow him on Twitter, and be sure to follow the Gig Em Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.