Texas A&M Football: Mid-May Transfer Portal Catchup

After Texas A&M football was a huge storyline during the first transfer portal window—and not for reasons that warmed the hearts of Aggie fans—they have kept a much lower profile in recent months. Many in the college football media and no shortage of rival fans were piling on the Ags for the large number of entrants into the portal from the Aggies’ ranks. This included two five-stars from the highly-ranked 2022 class in Denver Harris and Chris Marshall. Anthony Lucas, PJ Williams, and Smoke Bouie—also 2022 signees—rounded out the five most notable departures of the seven total from that class.

All of these players except for Bouie were suspended for the last part of the 2022 season following an incident after the South Carolina game. All except Williams found their way to Power 5 programs: Harris ended up at LSU, Marshall at Ole Miss (from where he has since been dismissed), Lucas at Southern Cal, Williams at SMU, and Bouie at UGA. While none were major contributors to the ’22 season, all definitely flashed potential during their time with Texas A&M football.

Fast forward to today, and the lay of the land seems much different. Despite a brief sojourn from Bobby Taylor, no one else from the 2022 class has flirted with the portal to this point. The volume of incoming talent, on the other hand, has done a 180, with far more. Another notable factor with regard to the transfers into the program is the job this Texas A&M football staff has done to address positions of need. Corner, linebacker, and tackle were all seen as positions of need with regard to depth for the Aggies, and all three have seen additions through the portal.

Defensive back has without a doubt been the position with the highest influx of talent, with Sam McCall, Josh DeBerry, and Tony Grimes all coming in as starter-level talents for this Texas A&M football team. New defensive backs coach Bryant Gross-Armiento has acquitted himself well on this front thus far. Linebacker Jurriente Davis from Jackson State will compete for a starting spot as well. Davis put up stellar numbers—albeit at a lower level—at his last stop.

The Aggies have also added depth at RB, QB, and WR. David Bailey from Boston College and Colorado State (obviously bringing connections to second-year OL coach Steve Addazio, who was head coach at both of those locations) at RB, Jaylan Henderson at QB, and Jahdae Walker at WR all provide depth and fill needed roles on this roster. Bailey is a heavy, between-the-tackles back; Henderson is an athletic QB who has experience in a Petrino-style offense; Walker is a lengthy WR who flashed explosion and burst at the lower level of CFB.

The arrow is pointed up for Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M football. Adding another linebacker and maybe another offensive lineman would make it hard to find a hole on this team depth-wise. Credit to the head man and his staff—issues have been addressed on the roster following a down recruiting cycle and a litany of outbound depth pieces. Let’s hope this success translates onto the field this fall.