Texas A&M had a couple of swings and misses over the last few days: none bigger, of course, than missing out on Lamar Brown, who committed to the hometown LSU Tigers over the Aggies. Brown is ranked as the top player in the nation by ESPN, and a five-star across the board.
However, all is not lost for the Aggies. There's still much more recruiting to be done, and more high-level prospects set to make decisions pretty soon. Texas A&M still has a shot, albeit a much-reduced one at this point, to land the top-rated overall class when things are all said and done.
To get there, they'll need a lot of things to go their way, including some pretty high-profile flips. Let's reset where the Aggies currently stand and take a look at what is needed to get them to the top.
Texas A&M still has outside shot at top overall recruiting class in nation even after losing out on Lamar Brown
The first thing that needs to happen is for the Aggies to go two-for-two on the remaining announcements. Texas A&M football has two targets announcing this upcoming week in Tylan Wilson and Tamarion Watkins, and the Aggies need to be the choice on both of those fronts.
Luckily, it looks like both safeties are trending towards the Aggies— Wilson over the Clemson Tigers and Watkins over the South Carolina Gamecocks. Both need to keep with that momentum for the Aggies to have a chance.
Next, the Aggies need to rob Alabama of their top-remaining prospect in Tank Jones. The edge rusher from Mobile is a prime target of both the Tide and the Aggies, and A&M needs to triumph in this one as well to up their class rating.
Then comes the hard part. The Aggies need to add a fourth receiver— one that may well be a hotly-contested flip. The common wisdom right now is that LSU commit Tristen Keys won't be ending up in Baton Rouge, but he's a battle between the Aggies and Tennessee Volunteers to see who can indeed pull off a flip.
If the Aggies win out in the Keys battle— a big ask if they also land Jones, of course— then they are set. Otherwise, they may need to circle back to Ethan Feaster, hoping to flip him from USC. There's also still-uncommitted Jase Mathews, who is just outside the top-100 prospects nationally.
Another USC commit that the Aggies can come back to now that Lamar Brown is looking elsewhere is Jaimeon Winfield. The Richardson product and top-100 player could end up being a big add to the interior of A&M's defensive line if the Ags can get him to defect.
Finally, the Aggies need to close out on Evan Jacobson, a TE prospect out of Waukee, Iowa. The in-state Cyclones have come on strong for him, but the Aggies are hanging tough, as are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
If the Aggies can do some combination of the above— Jones being the most key piece, with Keys making this a much surer bet— then they will be once more in contention for the top class. First things first, however: the Aggies need to sweep this week with Wilson and Watkins.