Texas A&M football needed some extra juice this year at the receiver spot. Full stop.
The Aggies certainly had some guys with a lot of potential on the roster. Cyrus Allen and Jabre Barber looked like they were big adds from the transfer ranks, having been quite productive at previous stops. But the jump between levels looked like it was too big a step for Allen, and a spring practice injury meant a delayed start and little practice time for Barber.
The returning Jahdae Walker was dependable, but didn't quite have the numbers from last season. Terry Bussey didn't arrive until fall camp, and so he wasn't able to begin leveraging his gifts until later in the year. Noah Thomas took a while to get going, but he was the biggest threat for the Ags by the end of the year.
All this adds up to a passing attack that wasn't quite up to snuff. Though the run game was stellar at times for the Ags, the offense simply felt uneven because of an imbalanced attack.
Reports are, so far, that the Aggies are going to be extremely aggressive in pursuing some of the talent that's out there in the portal at the receiver spot. Last year, they didn't quite make a big splash at the position—but if early returns are to be believed, that won't be the case this time around.
The Aggies already reportedly have some huge visits lined up with some of the biggest names at WR in the portal. They're looking to land multiple names at the position, and I have to think they'll be in a much better spot to do so this time around.
From reading the tea leaves, I would not be surprised to see the Ags land at least two big names via the portal this cycle. You could see both a Micah Hudson and a Kevin Concepcion land here; both a Nic Anderson and a Jayce Brown. I think we see several depth guys come in as well, as the Ags could stand to reinvent the room a little bit, but this is a cycle in which the Aggies can dream big.
After the year the Ags just had, for multiple reasons, A&M fans should not be grading on a curve here. The Maroon and White faithful should be ready for some big moves—that was one of the big selling points for hiring a guy like Holmon Wiggins. We've begun to see some returns with things like the recruitment of Jerome Myles; now, we need to see it happen with the portal.