The Texas A&M Football team is going through a lot of changes this offseason. For a team that retains a large portion of its production from last season, there are some key gaps that will need to be filled before the start of the year.
That’s what spring football is for.
Jimbo Fisher will be working day and night to find the right guys for each individual spot. This will be highlighted by a quarterback battle between Haynes King and Zach Calzada. Right now, it looks like King has the upper hand, but anything could happen between these two inexperienced quarterbacks.
But this isn’t the only position that will see significant change this season. In fact, some of the spots where we’ll see the largest breakouts will be at well-established positions.
The Texas A&M Football team will look completely different from last season
Because of the departure of Kellen Mond and nearly the entire offensive line, this offensive unit will look drastically different from what Aggies fans are used to. After four years of stability, this team will have to find its identity with a new quarterback under center.
With these changes, certain players will be primed to have breakout seasons that some might not expect. Mond’s favorite receiver might not be the same as King or Calzada’s favorite receiver. The running attack will have to take a different approach, as they lose all of the interior linemen from last season.
That said, here are 3 early breakout candidates for Texas A&M Football’s offensive unit in 2021.
Texas A&M Football Breakout Candidate: RB/WR Ainias Smith
It’s important to preface this slide by saying that I’m calling Ainias Smith a bonus breakout candidate for a reason. He has already “broken out,” but this year, he’ll break out as a wideout for the Aggies.
Ainias Smith is one of the most versatile players in the SEC. So versatile, in fact, that he hasn’t been assigned a specific position yet on this team. Last year, he bounced back and forth between runningback and wideout.
And there’s no denying it — he was extremely effective in both positions. He accounted for nearly 1,000 yards through pass-catching and rushing, and most notably, he finished the play with a touchdown on about a tenth of his touches. He can do it all and that won’t be denied.
But at some point, that becomes confusing and unnecessary. If you can find a player to fill his role in each respective position, what’s the point of having him bounce back and forth?
It seems like that’s what Jimbo Fisher has realized during this off-season. Per 247Sports, Smith was quoted saying the following about his position and where he’s receiving reps in a press conference:
"“Right now I feel like I’m I’m taking a lot of reps at receiver at the moment…” “…I’m pretty sure things are going to get a lot different as the spring continues. Right now, we’re just making sure that everybody’s getting some work in. We’re all just working on numbers right now and we’re all getting better.”"
If Smith continues to receive most of his reps at the receiver spot, he could easily be this team’s top receiver.
Texas A&M Football Breakout Candidate: WR Demond Demas
Speaking of wide receivers, there hasn’t been a more exciting wide receiver prospect than Demond Demas. But after a flood of hype before his freshman season, he would disappear into the shadows of a Texas A&M receiver room that wasn’t particularly great.
In all likelihood, this was due to the fact that he played in an underwhelmingly simple scheme in high school — he had a lot of learning to do when he walked onto campus in College Station.
But a year has gone by, and after riding the bench for 365 days, Demas should be ready to step onto the field. But why does this mean that he’ll have a breakout season?
Well, for starters, the Aggies struggled to create explosive plays in 2020. A large reason behind this is that they didn’t have a speedy, big-bodied guy like Demond Demas who was earning a significant amount of snaps. The team was near the bottom of the conference in 25+ yard passing plays.
This could partially be due to the fact that Kellen Mond excelled without those types of passes. If that is the case, things will likely change now that he’s gone. With a new quarterback will come a new personality for this offensive unit.
If Demas is comfortable with the offense, there’s no reason why he won’t be a top target for Haynes King or Zach Calzada.
Texas A&M Breakout Candidate: C Luke Matthews
Luke Matthews may not be an extremely familiar name to Texas A&M fans. For starters, he plays on the offensive line — a vitally important position that is too often forgotten about. Secondly, he hasn’t played much with the Aggies so far.
After expecting to see the field to an extent in 2020, he went down with a shoulder injury. This would see him miss the entire 2020 season.
Next year though, he’ll be back to full health.
The exact offensive line that we’ll be seeing in game one of this coming season remains unclear at this point, but Matthews seems like the favorite to take over at the center spot. It may take some time for him to settle in, but this team has to have the utmost confidence in him if he’ll be snapping the ball each play.
A lot can be said about replacing 80% of your offensive line, but clearly, the Aggies coaching staff knows how to get these guys ready for game day. Most of the offensive linemen who saw playing time in 2020 thrived, even in a limited role.
If there’s a guy who will be ready to play, it’s Matthews. He likely won’t live up to the standard set by the incredible 2020 offensive line, but he has every opportunity to get there. Don’t be surprised if we’re hearing his name called in the NFL Draft in a few years.
Texas A&M Breakout Candidate: RB Devon Achane
Devon Achane is the most obvious breakout candidate on this offense. To say that Achane had a slow start in 2020 would be an understatement — he didn’t even play in a game until mid-October.
But he’s the real deal as an athlete. In fact, during the football season, he’ll also be working with the track team. I won’t pretend to be a fan of track, but he had a more promising season as a track star than he did as a football player, earning SEC Freshman of the Week at one point.
That said, being a dual-sport athlete shouldn’t affect his ability to be out on the field for the Aggies.
Achane is poised for a breakout due to his incredible finish to the year, even being mentioned by CBS Sports as a player to watch. After being relatively quiet, he made a name for himself in Aggies households everywhere with a 140 yard, 2 touchdown game in the Orange Bowl against North Carolina that was good enough to earn him MVP of the bowl game.
He provided a more explosive option for the Aggies who were used to an equally effective runningback in Isaiah Spiller. That said, Spiller will continue to be RB1, at least at the start of the season.
Expect these two to both receive significant carries, with each of them bringing a unique skillset to College Station. Depending on how the offensive line looks, the Aggies could hold one of the best runningback rooms in the country.