Texas A&M brought in a heap of new talent from both the high school ranks and the transfer portal this offseason, with guys like Alabama WR Isaiah Horton and others joining up with the program. Mike Elko and his staff lost quite a bit to the draft, but you can tell that they have the program in a place now where they are reloading rather than rebuilding.
Still, though, some familiar names from last season are out the door, so Aggie fans may be wondering who will shine for them this fall. Though this opener is against a lower-level team in Missouri State, there’s still going to be quite a bit that we can learn from it— and one of those things is which names are set to make noise this season for Texas A&M.
There are three players in particular that are going to be able to put their talents on full display against the Bears. Let’s take a look at who among the new names in maroon is going to shine against Missouri State in this opener.
Three new Aggie players that are about to make mincemeat out of Missouri State
WR Isaiah Horton
The transfer receiver from Alabama has received a lot of buzz over this offseason, and he’s about to show that it was all for a good reason. He brings a kind of threat that the Aggies haven’t had at the position in quite some time— his towering stature is a factor that Texas A&M has been missing on their roster since before Mike Elko got to town.
the Aggies haven’t had tall receivers, of course, like Kendrick Rogers, but Rogers lankiness sometimes worked against him. Horton is a much more physical player, and so he should be able to better take advantage of the matchups he’s presented against the Missouri State corners.
There’s only one corner listed on the Bears’ roster that has the stature to match Horton— Gionni McBride, no. 23, stands at 6’3”, but he’s only a true sophomore. There is no true matchup that the Bears can feel good about here; Horton will be able to get over the top as much as he wants, as well as go up and bring down any jump ball that comes his way.
S Tawfiq Byard
Byard introduced himself in striking fashion to the Aggie faithful in the spring game, when his physicality was the talk of the first half (at least, until Daymion Sanford suffered his injury). Since that point, though he may not have a starting spot, he’s been one of the players that A&M fans are most excited to see.
He’ll no doubt reintroduce himself in a huge way in this one. Missouri State is a team that is going to try to spread the Aggies out from sideline to sideline and use those wide alignments to create some leverage in the run game, so safety support in that aspect will be key— and that’s where Byard shines.
Don’t be surprised if Byard’s name gets called quite a bit when he’s out there on the field. He’s a very sure tackler and is unafraid to lay the wood, something he’ll have quite a bit of opportunity to do in this one.
RB KJ Edwards
The Aggies went three-deep at running back in most big games last season, with true freshman Jamarion Morrow forcing his way onto the field thanks to the high level of play he was consistently displaying. Morrow is now firmly entrenched as the no. 2 back in the lineup behind Rueben Owens, but there’s another dynamic freshman who is about to catch a lot of eyes when he gets his turn.
That, of course, is KJ Edwards. The five-star tailback out of Carthage was one of the most hyped signings of the offseason for the Aggies, and he has reportedly lived up to his billing so far in fall camp. He’ll be in the rotation in a big way throughout the year, and fans should be ready to see a heavy dose of him against the Bears.
Edwards is a shorter guy, but his electric speed is matched only by a physicality uncommon to guys of that stature. He’s going to have a huge year for the Aggies, and it’s all going to start this Saturday against the Bears.
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