Texas A&M had another swing and miss on the recruiting front yesterday as five-star edge defender Tank Jones ended up committing to Oregon over A&M and Alabama. The Aggies were considered to have been in the driver's seat for the last little bit of the recruitment, but the Ducks came in strong at the end to steal Jones away.
This bears an eerie resemblance to the way things happened with Lamar Brown less than one month ago. After Brown's official visit to College Station, the optimism was flowing, and Aggie fans were convinced they'd be bringing in the five-star defensive tackle. However, Brown committed to LSU, leaving A&M fans high and dry.
This isn't to discount the many recruiting wins that the Aggies have had over the past month or so— pulling in Bryce Perry-Wright, Brandon Arrington, Tristian Givens, KJ Edwards, and others have been massive wins. But when you go from dreams of the top overall class to trying to figure out what's next, it's a big time disappointment.
Where does Texas A&M football turn after missing on Lamar Brown and Tank Jones?
There are a few things to keep in mind here. First of all, even though the Aggies missed on these two prospects, they still have a top-3 class in the nation— and that's not an empty number by any means. They have addressed needs quite well in this class, and if they simply sign the guys they currently have committed, it will be a real testament to Elko and this staff's recruiting ability.
Secondly, the Aggies aren't going anywhere in any of these recruitment. NIL makes things tougher nowadays, but Texas A&M showed last cycle that they can stay in these big time recruitments and end up flipping players in the end. They did as much with both Lamont Rogers (a five-star, for what it's worth) and Jamarion Morrow in last class alone.
So nothing is over until it's over, even if things seem pretty bad right now. The Aggies will have a chance to sort things out on the field against LSU, obviously, though that will be a tough win to get.
Lamar Brown, Tristen Keys, Ethan "Boobie" Feaster, and Tank Jones are all players that the Ags will stay on until pen meets paper. If Texas A&M has the season that we're expecting as fans, their chances of a flip will go way up.