Where Texas A&M football stands with top 2025 targets: LB is fluid yet promising

Texas A&M football standing in the ring for LB recruiting battles in the state of Texas with promising chances

We all thought that the 2024 class for Texas A&M football would have linebacker as a highlight. Coming off of two straight years where the Aggies landed a commitment from the nation’s top LB, only to have each player decommit and then end up at a local rival, A&M fans thought that they desperately needed some big time players brought in at the position.

As it turned out, though, they found a star in Taurean York, who has already been ranked as a better player than the five-star they missed out on. Opposite him, a top-50 NFL draft pick in Edgerrin Cooper made the middle of the defense a terror for opposing teams in 2023.

With the coaching change, though, the Aggies struggled to close on some of their targets at linebacker. Tyanthony Smith had a poorly-hidden signing day flip to Texas, and the Aggies failed to flip LSU commit Xavier Atkins when it seemed a near-certainty that he was A&M-bound.

The two that the Aggies ended up with in Tristan Jernigan and Jordan Lockhart are both high-quality players—I’m especially excited about Jernigan, who came down to A&M and Alabama—but when you consider that the Aggies were, at one point, considering taking four players at the position, depth is a need.

The depth has been addressed through the portal, thanks to Mike Elko. As attention turns to the 2025 class, then, the Aggies have a bit more flexibility as far as the numbers they end up taking.

Already, the Aggies have landed one of their top targets at the position in Forney’s Kelvion Riggins. Though lower-rated due to being a tad undersized (the same story as Taurean York), Riggins has always been a big target for the Aggies. Getting him in the boat early was big for the position in this upcoming cycle.

Who else they may add at the position is a discussion that should excite Texas A&M football fans. A&M will receive official visits from top-100 player Noah Mikhail, a top-150 guy and the top player in the state of New Mexico in Mason Posa, and a state of Texas five-star in McKinney’s Riley Pettijohn. The Aggies are squarely in the mix for each of these three players, and would conceivably be set at linebacker if they landed even one.

An intriguing piece here is Jonah Williams. A five-star and a top-10 player in the nation, Williams is listed as a safety but could conceivably play at linebacker. A spring game visitor for the Aggies, he’s a piece that they need to lock down no matter what position he ends up playing.

Jay Bateman and Mike Elko have a lot to work with in the high school ranks for their true initial linebacker class. I’m confident that they will pull in some more quality players before all is said and done.