Texas A&M Football: Aggies Officially Retain All Draft-Eligible Underclassmen

Texas A&M Football Retains All Draft-Eligible Underclassmen after Shemar Turner's Return

This is something we haven't seen with Texas A&M football for a while, and something that will hopefully help them shed the designation of an overly young team in 2024. With Shemar Turner's announcement that he will be returning to campus for the upcoming season, the Aggies officially have all of their remaining third-year players coming back.

It should be said that there are quite a few from the 2021 recruiting class that are no longer with the Aggies for one reason or another. 15 ended up transferring: LJ Johnson, Tunmise Adeleye, Eli Stowers, Marcus Burris, Elijah Jeudy, Jahzion Harris, Deuce Harmon, Jardin Gilbert, Yulkeith Brown, Dreyden Norwood, Jordan Moko, Remington Strickland, Tyreek Chappell, and Fernando Garza. Of those, only Harmon, Gilbert, Brown, and Chappell contributed meaningfully. Shadrach Banks didn't make it through the first spring.

Another qualification here is that there were a few players who had remaining eligibility but chose to go to the NFL. However, each of those players had been on campus with Texas A&M football for at least four years.

There are quite a few stalwarts from this class that remain, however, with the aforementioned Turner chief among them. Bryce Foster and Reuben Fatheree are two players that were immediately successful and found their way into the starting lineup from day one, though the latter missed last year with an injury. Trey Zuhn is another hit along the offensive line from that class. Dametrious Crownover is developing into a quality player. Albert Regis was a great find.

It's no small matter that each of these now fourth-year players are along the lines of scrimmage. The physical maturation of each of these guys, along with the innate skill level that each brings, will be even more of a boon for their position group than normal. There wasn't a lot of skill talent that ended up working out from this class—there wasn't a whole lot by sheer numbers to begin with, to be fair—but the amount of starting-level talent up front on both sides of the ball is encouraging.

This is yet another sign the Aggies are ready to make a run in 2024. Depth and maturity up front can't be undersold, especially in a league like the SEC. If the Aggies can stay healthy, this can pose a huge advantage for them headed into the upcoming season.