Elko proves he's way ahead of recruiting sites as A&M commits see huge ratings jump

Several Texas A&M football commitments see huge ratings boost, proving Mike Elko to be ahead of the curve in talent evaluation

One of the big concerns that many Aggie fans had when Mike Elko came on board as the new head coach for Texas A&M football was whether he could continue recruiting at the same level as A&M had been under Fisher. At his peak, the previous Aggie head coach was maybe, pound-for-pound, the best recruiter in the nation.

I think it was always unrealistic to expect Elko to rise to that standard. But, of course, success on the field means the school begins to recruit itself to a certain degree - and so a head coach who gets more out of the talent would mean that the Ags would be in it for the top prospects in any case.

The other thing about hiring a guy as organized and relentless as Elko is that he will stay ahead of the curve in talent evaluation. Finding the underrated three-star and getting in the race for his services ahead of time would pay big dividends - and that's a dynamic we're already seeing manifest in this upcoming class.

With a recent rankings update from 247Sports, many Aggie commitments have seen huge jumps in their ratings.

Here are some of the specific ratings bumps in the new Top247:

• Nelson McGuire moved from 606th to 193rd
• Rashad Johnson moved from 294th to 74th
• Kelshaun Johnson moved from 197th to 112th
• Jamar Beal-Goines moved from 185th to 93rd
• DJ Sanders moved from 120th to 62nd

This well shows how much acumen that Elko and his staff possess as talent evaluators. They've identified several guys primed to blow up in the ratings and gotten in on them early on. That's huge in recruiting, and Elko and this staff have utilized that dynamic to the max.