On3’s J.D. PicKell theorizes what Texas A&M football could become is the star align in 2024
Just two weeks away from Texas A&M’s annual Maroon & White spring game on Saturday, April 20, the buzz surrounding new head coach Mike Elko’s coaching style compared to former head man Jimbo Fisher shows a much-needed change after two consecutive disappointing seasons.
With a clear focus on accountability and structure, including a shake-up in the offensive trenches during spring practices after one of the worst offensive line performances in program history in 2023, Elko and his experienced coaching staff are taking the right approach thus far.
Only losing a handful of last season’s primary starters, Elko attacked the transfer portal with vigor, landing 22 players, including former Big Ten sack leader Nic Scouron and former Kansas State cornerback Will Lee Jr., who already look like immediate starters as soon as fall camp.
However, the most important position, quarterback, has continued to hinder the program since the departure of longtime starter Kellen Mond, as injuries have continued to mount every season since.
After missing the final eight games last season due to a foot injury, blue-chip redshirt sophomore Conner Weigman has continued to heal this spring, participating in practices while recently noting,
“I’m feeling good. We’re almost there.”
Well, the preseason No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies are obviously underrated for a reason, and On3′ J.D. PicKell feels that the “underdog” tag could finally work in the Aggies’ favor with four playoff teams on the schedule and a head coach worthy of respect in his inaugural season:
The thing with A&M is that it’s never been an issue of roster talent” PicKell stated “For me, it’s always been a matter of structure, execution, and putting the right pieces of the puzzle where they’re supposed to go.”
Yes, Jimbo Fisher was an ace recruiter in his own right, but his results on the field never matched his offseason success. Elko, who spent the last two seasons as Duke’s head coach, finished with two winning seasons and consecutive bowl game appearances.
“Mike Elko, who, quite frankly has done more with less with his time at Duke, I think think there’s a massive disruptions oppurtunity fro the folks at Texas A&M. They play four college football contenders this season, the guys they bring back, they’re top 20 in returning production.”
Lastly, after noting what Conner Weigman could bring to the table in a full 12-game season as opposed to simply “flashing” in brief moments, PicKell ended with a message that should resonate with Aggie fans who remember just how disregarded Texas A&M’s memorable 2012 season was just months before the season.
“There’s no College Football Playoff buzz around A&M right now, but I don’t think we should ignore the fact that this could definitely be the year with the talent they have and the structure they could have. I’m Just saying that A&M could be a force this year.”
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Cameron on Twitter: @CameronOhnysty.
Things are heating up for Michigan football and college football in general.
Big Ten media days kicks off this week and the team will report for fall camp early next week to begin 2023 preparation in earnest. The Wolverines appear to be moving from a team that many think are good, among the top in college football, but still not at the top, to a place where some think this really could be the year. Fox Sports’ new analyst Mark Ingram declared Michigan to be his early favorite, and while On3’s J.D. PicKell won’t quite go that far, in his schedule breakdown for the maize and blue, he has high hopes — higher than many.
“What can we expect from a win-loss perspective from the Wolverines in 2023?” PicKell said. “And here’s the deal with Michigan, man — they are still the bully on the block. I mean, I have a hard time finding a weakness for them. They bring back 91% of the offense that scored 40 points a game, mind you — 80% of the defensive production that allowed 16 points a game. The returning production for them is top five in the country.
“OK, so that’s the first thing. They will have more offensive linemen drafted than probably most teams in college football will have players drafted, which is just frightening to think about. There was someone at SEC media days that was mentioning Michigan potentially having seven cats drafted on the O-line. That is ridiculous, y’all. It’s ridiculous to bring back Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum that carry the mail for you better than FedEx in Ann Arbor. Like there’s nothing within this team that is going to be a weakness.
“Now, those that are naysayers about Michigan, the thing they’ll point to is well, what’s J.J. McCarthy gonna be? And it’s a fair point. It’s not a weakness, mind you. It is not a weakness, but it is somewhere that I think they can potentially improve and if they do improve, they’re going to be absolutely lethal.
“Now the good news is everything you need for success in the past in Michigan is there. Roman Wilson, there, Colston Loveland is going to be a freak show. For them this coming season in the Big Ten, I would not be surprised if he’s an All-Big Ten tight end for them when it’s all said and done this coming season in Ann Arbor. Cornelius Johnson popped last year against Ohio State — he’s back.
“Then J.J. McCarthy, from a physical gifting standpoint has everything to be successful and to be an All-Big Ten quarterback., Great athlete, live arm, makes great throws on the run — like all the cliches you want to throw about a quarterback are out there for J.J. McCarthy. And they all fit for him perfectly. And we saw him against Ohio State in person when they were able to challenge downfield. That changed the entire game for Michigan, that kept them in the game early on to be real with you, because the run game was taking a while to get going. The pipes didn’t quite burst just yet. With Donovan Edwards down the sideline in the first half, it was the arm of J.J. McCarthy that propelled Michigan and that was when everybody was like, OK, if it’s this Michigan team, they’re going to be a problem for whoever they meet in the national title game. Now obviously, the TCU game went the way that it went. For Michigan, you probably feel like you had a few too many self-imposed errors to end up being in the national title game. But you hear what I’m saying. You have a guy who can deal the rock for you at quarterback, and you have pieces there that can go and get it.
“So everything from Michigan to be successful to get where they want to go — which, to be clear, a national title is on the table for them. But you got to get through the Big Ten first.”
So how high are his hopes? As we alluded to in the headline, PicKell thinks that the Wolverines could have a special season. He hedges his bets a little, but here is why he thinks that the maize and blue could go undefeated in the regular season.
“So as I alluded to, particularly the schedule here really quick, you could talk me into 10-2 here. I’m not saying that picking 10-2, but you could talk me into 10-2. The last three weeks are going to define their season there at Penn State. They got a little two-for-one special at Maryland. It’s both a letdown spot and a look-ahead spot because then you play Ohio State at home in the game of all games that we can expect that we will be on hand for that one. Like, that is what’s going to make up their season.
“Penn State, a little bit sneaky this year, Drew Allar as he hit his stride at that point in the year. They’re going to be better on the offensive line. According to James Franklin, there’s tons of depth on defense at Penn State. What do they look like? Maryland is sneaky though. Anytime you have a mobile quarterback that can also throw it downfield like Taulia Tagovailoa. Just keep an eye on that Maryland game. That’s one that makes me nervous. It’s on the road. It’s the game before Ohio State, it’s after Penn State. I hate that spot of a Michigan fan. And then you get Ohio State and that game speaks for itself.
“You could talk me into 10-2. I don’t see a world where they finish 0-3 in that stretch. I don’t see a world where they also drop a game at Michigan State as well as one of those games. For me, for Michigan, there’s too much on this roster that is proven to pick them outside of anything undefeated. I think they’ll go 12-0 in the regular season.
“And here’s the thing with Michigan, you’re giving a second chance to one of the most talented, experienced teams in college football. Typically how it works is you build up to this one season and your one year to really take a swing at a national title berth and that’s like your one chance to do it and your swing and if you make contact or not. That’s the result that you have to live with. That’s not what Michigan has right now. Michigan is top five returning production. They bring back a second-year starter coming off a Big Ten Championship, bring back the best backfield in college football, an individual who really should have been invited to the Heisman trophy ceremony in Blake Corum. They’ve got everything they need to be successful. And so for them now to get a second chance at this, that is dangerous for college football, and I fully expect Michigan to make contact and to go undefeated in the regular season.
“Now they’ll see somebody in that Big Ten Championship. We’ll talk about that when it gets here. We’ll do prediction season here a little bit later in the summer. But for me, I have a very difficult time picking Michigan to not be undefeated in the regular season, based on what we know about them right now.”
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In the aftermath of 2020, Jim Harbaugh appeared to be a dead man walking in Ann Arbor. Though that was the COVID year, there was a ton of optimism about the direction of the team that year, and when Michigan finally opened the season at Minnesota, there was sudden talk about a national championship.
The Wolverines won but one more game the rest of the way. There was no indication that Michigan would be able to turn things around.
However, there’s a reason why you play games instead of just taking a team’s record the year before and copying and pasting. Since, Michigan has beaten Ohio State two-straight times en route to back-to-back Big Ten Championships. What happened? What changed?
On3’s J.D. PicKell knows exactly what changed: Jim Harbaugh went back to his roots and trusted his own philosophy would work when college football was veering strongly towards systems that differed greatly.
“Look at what Jim Harbaugh has done just the last two seasons — just look at this,” PicKell said. “Two Big Ten titles, two College Football Playoff appearances, four different coordinators, give or take, two different quarterbacks, lost a lot to the NFL draft from 2021 to 2022. The common denominator in Michigan’s success is Jim Harbaugh.
“And you look at what he’s done. He’s done it his way. There’s been a lot made about, well, you can’t play the style of football that Jim Harbaugh wants to play. You got to be a little more spread out. You got to be able to be a little more dynamic. Jim Harbaugh has done it his way. He’s been on his philosophy and he has won.
“And I think for this coming season, I don’t know if Michigan is in the position they’re in if you don’t have Jim Harbaugh as your head coach, if he hasn’t built to what he’s built to at Michigan.”
Jim Harbaugh is the common denominator in each of Michigan's Big Ten title seasons. Top 5 coach in CFB right now
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According to On3 CFB analyst J.D. PicKell, Texas A&M is on “Boom Watch” ahead of the 2023 season.
For those of you wanting a majority of sports media to avoid expectation-based articles related to Texas A&M this offseason, I’m sorry to say that you can’t escape it because the 2023 Aggie football squad is ready to rebound in a big way with less than two months away from their season-opening matchup vs. New Mexico on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Earlier this week, On3 college football personality J.D. PicKell revealed how he feels things will shape out for Texas A&M ahead of the 2023 season. Focusing on the Aggie’s elite roster and returning stars on both sides of the ball, PicKell has placed the Maroon and White on “Boom Watch” to make some serious noise in the SEC and potentially the college football playoff.
“The talent is there,” PicKell stated. “The way I am looking at this, they have as many four and five-stars as just about everybody else they’re going to play in the country. They’re going to be competitive from a roster standpoint… I love Conner Weigman, I love Evan Stewart. Having Ainias Smith back is huge. They got a lot of ingredients on this roster.”
PicKell’s use of the term “ingredients,” being the abundance of talent on the roster, is essential in the context of discussing Texas A&M’s issues during their 5-7 2022 season, as Head Coach Jimbo Fisher repeatedly touted the need to “find the inches,” something he feels TCU accomplished every week during their incredible playoff run last season. PicKell took his prediction even further, proclaiming the Aggies a potential College Football Playoff wildcard if all the pieces fall in place.
“If they put it together, they’re going to be a team that I think competes in the SEC,” PicKell stated. “And they’re going to put a dent in the College Football Playoff race. Just look at who they play.”
Lastly, PicKell, like many of us in Aggie media, believes that even if the coaching staff falters early in the season, Texas A&M’s roster is just too talented not to rise to the occasion when in-game situations arise.
“Whether or not they compete for the College Football Playoff or not — who knows,” PicKell stated. “But I’m telling you. The roster itself is enough to be very, very dangerous when it comes to the 2023 season.”
The 2022 season failures will continue to plague until wins are produced on the field, and consistency is found in SEC play. It’s good that fellow media members believe the Aggies are equipped to prove that last season was simply a fluke.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Cameron on Twitter: @CameronOhnysty.
