Texas A&M Football: 3 freshmen who will have an immediate impact

While all of the focus may be on the Texas A&M Football team’s 2022 class, the Aggies have an even more impressive class full of incoming freshmen for the 2021 season. This class is ranked as 247Sports Composite’s 8th-ranked class nationally and 4th-ranked in the SEC. There are 21 enrollees excluding Shadrach Banks, who already entered the transfer portal.

This class includes 15 4-star players and a single 5-star. In total, there are seven top-150 recruits, making this one of the Aggies’ best classes all-time.

Today, I’m going to look at which three of these incoming freshmen can make the biggest immediate impact on the Texas A&M Football team in their first season.

Texas A&M Football Impact Freshman No. 1: RB LJ Johnson

Even though the Aggies seemingly already have a strong 1-2 punch in the shifty Isaiah Spiller and speedy Devon Achane, there’s no reason why a third back can’t sneak into the rotation.

Jimbo Fisher didn’t recruit high-4-star LJ Johnson for no reason, as he was the 5th-ranked ball carrier in his class and one of the most exciting prospects from 2021. Johnson possesses the playstyle of a prototypical runningback with strong lower body strength and elite lateral agility.

High school 40-yard dash times should be taken with a grain of salt, but Johnson supposedly ran a 4.42 as a sophomore. Whether or not that number is perfectly accurate, he has enough speed to generate big plays from time to time.

Perhaps most importantly, he possesses the vision and patience to be a great runningback at the SEC level. He understands the importance of non-explosive plays, which could open the door for him to become a volume ball carrier down the road.

In 2021, he won’t be getting that volume role, but in the few snaps that he may get, he should have a huge impact on the running game. Even though Achane seems like the backup right now, Johnson could sneak in and steal that spot.