Three players who Texas A&M badly needs to step up down the stretch of the season
Isaiah Horton
Put simply, the Aggies have not yet gotten the kind of production out of Horton that they had anticipated when they got him out of the portal. The Alabama transfer looked like he was going to be a touchdown machine through the first two games, as the Aggies were clearly prioritizing going to him in the red zone, but over the last four games, he has zero touchdowns— and his yardage has gone down with each passing contest.
The lack of separation on his part has been the biggest issue, and some ill-timed drops have set him back even more. There's blame aplenty to go around in the Aggies' passing game, in other words— it's not all on Marcel Reed, at the end of the day.
The Citadel will be a get-right game in lots of ways this upcoming weekend, but Horton has to extend a heightened level of play beyond that. Maybe a return to Bryant-Denny the following weekend will be something that can spark a return to his previous form— A&M needs a go-to receiver down the stretch, and with Mario Craver dealing with injury right now, Horton needs to step up.
Daymion Sanford
Sanford has been slowly ramping up since making his first appearance against Arizona State, where he only played on special teams. It's been a slower ramp up than many Aggie fans had hoped, but the old no. 27 is starting to flash in some key spots.
He'll need that and more down the stretch of the year. Aggie fans can certainly hope that things will turn around on offense, but there's not yet any proof that that can happen— so this defense will have to carry the team in these last six games. Sanford, the senior captain, will be a huge part of that.
Noah Mikhail has emerged as an absolute force at linebacker as well, so the combo of he and Sanford can be pretty scary for opposing offenses if they're operating at 100%. Sanford was also a big piece of the Aggie pass rush last year, and if he can start having that kind of effect again, it will go a long way for this defense.
Trovon Baugh
After moving Wilkin Formby inside to guard and putting Lamont Rogers at tackle, the weakest link on the offensive line has become the opposite guard spot, occupied most often by South Carolina transfer Trovon Baugh. Elko indicated that Baugh was a little banged up against Missouri, hence Sam Roseborough getting some snaps, but the fifth-year senior is clearly the guy Cushing and company will be going with, all else being equal.
Baugh can be extremely physical in the run game especially, but struggles in pass blocking. Again, with a pass game facing a litany of issues, you simply are not in a position where you can add anything on top of the mental load the quarterback is already facing— so that pass protection has to be as good as possible if the Aggies have any chance of salvaging a semblance of an aerial attack.
If Baugh's level of play doesn't improve when it comes to that aspect of the game, then it is all but assured to be a long last six games. He's got to tighten up in pass pro, or the Aggies are going to be one-dimensional for the rest of the season— and they can't presume to hope that they'll beat any of these teams after the Citadel if that's the case.
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