Take Two: Should Horns, Sooners worry about Aggies' recruiting?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
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THE STORYLINE
When Jimbo Fisher took the job at Texas A&M, a new age of recruiting battles between the Aggies, Texas and Oklahoma was started and it looks like Fisher is getting a big-time edge in the 2020 class.
Texas A&M is on the verge of doing something it never has done before in the Rivals era dating back to 2002 and that is land the top three players in the state.
The Aggies already have commitments from five-star receiver Demond Demas and four-star defensive back Jaylon Jones. The only one remaining is the top player in the state - Houston North Shore five-star running back Zachary Evans.
Evans’ recruitment has taken many twists and turns over the past few months. He looked like a Georgia lock for a long time and the Bulldogs are definitely not out of it, but the rumor now is that A&M is the leader and could definitely land his commitment soon.
If that happens, Texas A&M would have commitments from the three best players in Texas and it would make a statement that Fisher is building something super special in College Station. Although Oklahoma has had incredible success and Texas is becoming more of a national player, it would definitely be a shot across the bow from Fisher & Co.
Can Fisher get it done and should his regional opponents - namely Texas and Oklahoma - be concerned?
FIRST TAKE: SAM SPIEGELMAN, TEXAS & LOUISIANA ANALYST
“Texas is undoubtedly the team garnering the most praise on the recruiting trail, but as October nears, Texas A&M is projected to sign the state's top three prospects for 2020. That's unprecedented, and it says a lot about the way Fisher and his staff have kept things afloat from a recruiting standpoint despite an up-and-down start to the 2019 football season.
“Demas and Jones are locked in to their Texas A&M pledges. Demas is already a five-star and, if he played his senior season, would have a chance to battle for the No. 1 receiver spot in the nation. Jones is on the cusp of a fifth star and certainly could finish as a five-star before the cycle ends.
"Evans is trending in the Aggies' direction, though it's a very fluid situation with Georgia, Alabama and LSU all still involved. Should Fisher and Texas A&M pull that off, they deserve a ton of credit for landing elite prospects and battling college football heavyweights for them and holding off a rash of other teams in the process. It also says a lot about where recruits and the coaches believe this team is heading.
“I'm not sure it places too much pressure on Texas' Tom Herman or Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley. Both coaches have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success, especially with prospects that they really zeroed in on. It comes down to which prospects each program prioritizes and then how they close with them. Texas A&M may very well wind up with Texas' top three prospects in 2020, but Texas and Oklahoma have also enjoyed a ton of success in their own right with their guys.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“Texas is recruiting very, very well in-state. They have a top recruiting class nationally. I don’t worry about them at all. If Jimbo gets the top three players in the state of Texas then that’s good but Texas A&M looks like it’s a long way from being a program that’s going to compete in the SEC West.
“If I’m Herman, I’m not too worried about it. If I’m Oklahoma, I’m not worried about it because they just have to keep winning and that will be the end of that. It would be great for Jimbo to brag on that and he’s a great recruiter but I don’t think it’s anything Herman or Riley will worry about.”