Texas A&M Football: Handing out 2021 midseason awards

The Texas A&M football team is only halfway through their 12-game schedule, with two losses already on their record. That said, the mood is high in Aggieland, with Texas A&M recently taking down Alabama at Kyle Field, leading to the 12th man storming the field.

There is plenty to celebrate if you’re an Aggie football fan, while there is also plenty to improve upon as the season progresses. That said, today, I’m focusing on the positives, as I’ll be handing out offensive, defensive, and special teams awards for this Aggie football team.

Texas A&M Football Special Teams Awards, Week 1-6

Kicker of the Year: Seth Small

I’ll start with an obvious one with Kicker of the Year. Technically, only one player is eligible for this in Seth Small. That said, he does have some sort of competition in punter Nik Constantinou.

Still, Small has played a strong season thus far. He has knocked down all 17 of his extra-point attempts this season and converted on 11-of-12 field goal attempts thus far. His only miss was from over 50 yards.

Small may have given us a heart attack at the end of the Alabama game, but he knocked the clutch kick through the uprights, which makes him the kicker of the year.

Returner of the Year: Devon Achane (RB/KR)

This is one of the only awards that will surprise you thus far, as the consensus before the season was that Ainias Smith would be this team’s primary returner. He’s still big in the return game, but he doesn’t have a touchdown in special teams this year.

Achane, on the other hand, is the team’s backup runningback who is also on the kick return unit. Last Saturday against the Tide, Achane took a kick 96 yards to the house to maintain a two-score Aggie lead. This play separates the two players.