The Texas A&M football team has position battles going on all over the field. Positions like will linebacker, defensive end, tight end, and right tackle each have their own handful of players fighting for the starting spot.
None of these positions, however, even pale in comparison to the biggest battle on the field — the quarterback competition.
The competition will be between Haynes King — last year’s starter — and two newcomers. The first of the newcomers is Max Johnson, LSU’s starting passer from the past two seasons. The next is highly-touted five-star freshman Conner Weigman, who has the most but rawest talent of all three quarterbacks.
Fans got their first live glimpse at this quarterback competition in the Aggies’ annual spring game, which took place this past weekend. All three A&M passers earned significant time, giving us new information.
Could 2022 end up being a repeat of the 2021 season at the quarterback spot for the Texas A&M football team?
Last season, the Texas A&M football team had its fair share of issues at the quarterback spot. For starters, it was a two-man battle that always seemed to favor Haynes King, who would eventually win the job. When King went down with an injury, backup Zach Calzada did not look ready.
Heck, even while King looked like he was getting out early jitters before falling with an injury — he threw three interceptions in his debut.
In Texas A&M’s 2021 spring game, there were early red flags at the quarterback spot. Both passers completed around 50% of their passes, an undesirable number, while both guys tossed interceptions.
2022 didn’t look much different.
Among the three quarterbacks, four interceptions were thrown. None of the three Aggies completed anywhere close to 50% of their passes. Haynes King completed 11 of his 33 attempts, Johnson completed 13 of 31, and Weigman completed seven of 19.
It’s far from intelligent to draw any conclusions in the spring game but this, at the very least, is a red flag. Will the Aggies’ quarterback struggles from last season repeat themselves?
Again, this isn’t something that should be looked into too deeply. Each quarterback, despite inaccuracy, was learning the system and took risks that they generally would not in a real game. They all showed bright spots throughout the game.