Texas A&M Football Sees Quickest Commitment/Decommitment Ever?

Elijah Alston Commits to Texas A&M Football; Decommits Less Than 24 Hours Later

Yesterday, I wrote an article about Texas A&M football landing a big time transfer from Marshall in defensive end Elijah Alston. This came on the heels of a commitment this past Thursday from the Big 10 sack leader, Nic Scourton. Alston and Scourton, as I wrote then, formed a formidable duo as pass rushers.

Not too long after that, former Bowling Green outside linebacker Cashius Howell, who totaled 9.5 sacks last year to lead the MAC, gave a verbal commitment to Texas A&M football. That made three pass rushers with elite traits and production in under a week.

Make that two now, I guess, as less than 24 hours after delivering his verbal pledge to the Aggies, Alston has backed off his commitment.

As I wrote beforehand, Alston had a lot of top programs vying for his services. Given that the Aggies already had an elite EDGE committed, and then took another commitment at the same position hours after Alston gave his verbal, it seems like his mind may have begun to wander.

Alston is obviously a great player and the Aggies would have been better with him than without, but the production that Texas A&M football is bringing in does help cushion this blow a bit. Scourton and Howell combined for just under 20 sacks by themselves this past season, and all signs are looking positive for Shemar Turner to forgo the draft and make a return to the Aggies, which would give the Maroon and White three dominant pass rushers.

The positional versatility afforded here is helpful, too, as Turner can move inside with ease, Scourton can play SDE or EDGE, and Howell can both play EDGE/OLB and drop into coverage. Alston's slot was much the same as Scourton's—not to say both wouldn't have been great, but now you have three distinct profiles for each pass-rush threat.

In any case, this may be the quickest commitment/decommitment split that I've ever seen in my time following Texas A&M football. Alston will have to move quickly to find a landing spot, but he should be able to do that with ease, as he is a highly coveted talent.

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