Tag: tj shanahan

Updated injury report ahead of Texas A&M vs. Arkansas

One Texas A&M starter will miss Saturday’s game vs. Arkansas

Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0 SEC) will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday afternoon, as both teams will meet for a final time inside AT&T Stadium before a new venue is announced for next season.

Coming off an underwhelming but competitive 26-20 win over Bowling Green last weekend, head coach Mike Elko knows that there are plenty of issues to iron out before the Aggies take the field on Saturday afternoon. Looking at the health of the roster after last week’s win, Elko spoke of several injury updates during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference, including Conner Weigman’s likely game-time decision for Saturday’s game.

While Elko is hopeful that Weigman will be available for the game, he also reported that starting center TJ Shanahan will miss the game after leaving the first half vs. Bowling Green with a lower-body injury. Elko also noted that safety Bryce Anderson is questionable, while defensive end Shemar Stewart will be available this weekend.

Both Anderson and Stewart briefly left the game only to re-enter the defensive lineup while playing most of the second half, so I’d assume Anderson’s status is more precautionary than anything else.

Texas A&M will face Arkansas inside AT&T Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN.

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.

Texas A&M’s Week 5 depth chart ahead of facing the Arkansas Razorbacks

Expect quarterback Marcel Reed to make his third career start vs. Arkansas

Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0 SEC) will head back to AT&T Stadium for the final time to face the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday afternoon, as the series will return to either a different venue or the regular conference home and home structure.

On Monday, head coach Mike Elko spoke to the media with improvements on his mind after A&M’s underwhelming 26-20 win over Bowling Green, even though the MAC opponent nearly defeated Penn State earlier in the season.

“I don’t think there is the same glaring issue that shows up from week to week. … We’re showing progress, and we are improving, but there are holes that continue to show up.”

“Part of that is to be expected, but part of that has to be behind us now.”

Despite the defensive lapses, redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed continued to make progress in his second career start, throwing for 173 yards and two touchdowns paired with 91 rushing yards, making him the first Aggie signal caller to throw for two touchdowns and rush for over 80 yards since Johnny Manizel during his Heisman winning 2012 season.

Looking to iron out the remaining issues ahead of Saturday’s game, Texas A&M’s latest depth chart showed much of the same, but like the last two weeks, quarterback Conner Weigman’s listing as the starter is more of a placeholder as the redshirt sophomore continues to rehab from his shoulder injury.

Also, redshirt freshman TJ Shanahan, injured early against Bowling Green, has been the team’s starting center over the past two games, while senior Koli Faaiu is the primary backup.

Texas A&M will face Arkansas inside AT&T Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN.

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.

Updated injury report after Texas A&M’s Week 4 win against Bowling Green

Here is Texas A&M’s latest injury report following Saturday’s in over Bowling Green

Texas A&M’s (3-1, 1-0 SEC) 26-20 win over Bowling Green didn’t feature many positives for head coach Mike Elko and his team. The Falcons were given every chance to steal a victory due to poor execution by the Aggie offense and defense.

However, a win is a win, and for the first time this season, Texas A&M’s depth chart heads into week 5 looking as healthy as it can be despite a couple of in-game injuries on Saturday night. Like my fall games in Kyle Field, the heat and humidity can affect any poorly hydrated player, which was the case this weekend.

Outside of the usual attrition, Texas A&M starting center TJ Shanahan, who earned the job after Mark Nabou’s season-ending injury, Saturday’s game with an apparent lower leg injury, and was even carted off due to the severity but ended up returning to the sideline helmet in hand, but did not reenter the game. After the win, Elko revealed that Shanahan “should be fine” and could return as soon as this weekend.

On Monday, when asked about quarterback Conner Weigman’s shoulder injury, Elko said he will continue to be a game-time decision, as the redshirt sophomore did not dress out against Bowling Green.

Another in-game injury to watch: safety Bryce Anderson left Saturday’s game before reentering after gingerly walking off the field. We will monitor how he practices this week, but the junior should be more than ready to go.

Texas A&M will face Arkansas inside AT&T Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN.

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.

Texas A&M’s running game has vastly improved compared to last season

Texas A&M’s running game has been borderline elite in the last two weeks

Texas A&M’s 33-20 SEC road win over the Florida Gators was critical for many reasons, starting with the fact that the Aggies had not won a conference road game in over three seasons, while head coach Mike Elko earned his first SEC win.

In a game dominated by the Aggie offense, the quarterback drama regarding starter Conner Weigman’s shoulder injury led to backup Marcel Reed making his first career start. The redshirt freshman’s poise and athleticism helped open up the playbook for OC Collin Klein.

While Reed was excellent from the pocket, A&M’s running game dominated the day, rushing for 310 yards, including 84 from Reed. In comparison, junior running backs Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels accounted for 178 yards on 31 carries.

The Aggies eclipsed 300-plus yards rushing for the second straight weekend, mainly due to better run blocking and Klein’s scheme. After three weeks of play, Texas A&M’s rushing attack is ranked 9th nationally with 263 yards per game, ranked as the second SEC team behind Tennessee, ranked 3rd with 333 per contest.

Three weeks of play isn’t a large enough sample size to say that this group is elite, but compared to last season’s 90th-ranked unit, only averaging 136 yards per game, this is a huge improvement under Klein and O-line coach Adam Cushing.

So far this season, Texas A&M has run for 787 yards for 6.02 yards per rush, and seven rushing touchdowns.

Texas A&M will host Bowling Green on Saturday, Sept. 21. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.

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.

Friday Night Notes: Texas A&M enters the chat, UCF hosts ‘Honeycomb’ and more

It’s not how you start a race, it’s how you finish.

USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school football recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond

It’s not how you start a race; it’s how you finish. We got a reminder of that this week as Texas A&M finally got into the mix with their recruiting class of 2023. After lagging behind other big schools for several months, the Aggies scored two big recruits this week…

John Gutierrez/Special to American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

On Tuesday, four-star La Grange (Texas) cornerback Bravion Rogers decided to recommit to Texas A&M after decommitting last month.

Rogers (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) is ranked as the seventh-best player in the state and is No. 4 at his position by 247Sports. He also had interest from Alabama, Baylor and Georgia.

In addition to his defensive work, Rogers is a productive running back. During his junior year, he totaled 1,006 yards and 15 touchdowns on just 105 carries. On the other side of the ball, he posted two interceptions and only allowed a 38.1% completion rate. 

That same day Texas A&M got another big commitment to bolster their 2023 offensive line. Five-star Westlake (Texas) guard TJ Shanahan Jr. has also committed to Jimbo Fisher’s team. Shanahan (6-foot-4, 310 pounds) is considered one of the most powerful linemen in his class and is ranked No. 150 nationally. The Aggies still have work to do, though. Shanahan is only their 11th recruit overall.

These moves helped propel Texas A&M up several spots in the 2023 recruiting rankings: after leap-frogging over Washington, Northwestern, TCU and Iowa, among others, they’re up to No. 24.

Remaining 2023 Texas A&M recruiting targets rise in new Rivals rankings

Remaining 2023 Texas A&M recruiting targets rise in new Rivals rankings

Texas A&M’s 2023 recruiting class is still in the process of reeling in their remaining priority targets and with the 2022 college football season less than a week away, some of the top uncommitted prospects are gearing up to make their final official visits.

This week, Rivals, one of the leading recruiting sites in the country, released their brand new rankings for a handful of blue chips in the 2023 class, which included five of Texas A&M’s priority targets receiving 5-Star designations and an increase in their overall ranking. Starting off, The Aggies are still in need of a Quarterback to add to the class, and after losing out on prospects such as Eli Holstein (Alabama commit) and Austin Novosad (Baylor commit) their sights are set on flipping 5-Star phenom, Malachi Nelson.

Other targets such as Offensive lineman TJ Shanahan, Defensive tackle David Hicks Jr., Wide receiver Hykeem Williams, and Cornerback Javien Toviano all received 5-Star designations and rose in the Rivals Top 250 player list.

Now, here are the five listed players who saw their recruiting value rise this week, knowing that the Aggies are paying full attention to their increased stock, and what it would mean to land these prized prospects.

Aggies land in Final 5 for 2023 Offensive lineman, TJ Shanahan

Aggies land in Final 5 for 2023 Offensive lineman, TJ Shanahan

Texas A&M has made the final list for one of the most sought-after offensive line prospects in the 2023 recruiting class, TJ Shanahan. As a premier recruiting target for the Aggies, Shanahan is listed as a 4-Star recruit, the 25th ranked player in Texas, and the 7th ranked offensive line prospect in the country according to 247Sports. Via Twitter, Shanahan released the list of his final 5 schools, which include Texas A&M, USC, Texas, Georgia, and LSU.

After offering Shanahan on January 27th, TJ Shanahan visited Texas A&M four times since, while officially visiting on June 17th. He has also made official visits to Georgia on June 3rd, and LSU on June 24th.

In a brief scouting report, I described Shanahan’s ability on the field:

As a prospect, Shanahan has a solid frame, currently standing at 6-4, 325lbs, with plenty of room to add weight once he commits to a program. He has a wide base and is quick out of his stance in pass protection, shows great hand strength and positioning, and looks comfortable from an athletic standpoint at the tackle spot, with the ability to shift inside due to his overall strength and impressive footwork. As a run blocker, he displays a mauler mentality, dead set on clearing a path for his running back no matter who gets in his way, finishing his blocks at a consistent rate. TJ Shanahan has the opportunity to continue his strong play going into his 2022 senior season.

Texas A&M is presently seen as the leader in signing TJ Shananhan according to multiple recruiting sites, and even though the Aggies have had their fair share of recruiting misses in the last couple of months, landing Shanahan could do wonders for the 2023 class trajectory moving forward.

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

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4-star offensive guard TJ Shanahan names top schools

Four-star offensive guard recruit TJ Shanahan puts UGA in his top five

Four-star offensive guard recruit TJ Shanahan is narrowing down his college choices. Shanahan is an elite recruit that plays high school football for Westlake High School in Austin, Texas.

Westlake High School is one of the top high school football programs in the country. Westlake went 16-0 last season and won a state championship in dominant fashion.

TJ Shanahan is ranked as the No. 145 recruit in the class of 2023. The rising senior is considered the No. 7 interior offensive line prospect and the No. 25 recruit in Texas.

The 6-foot-4, 310-pound offensive lineman delivers a lot of pancake blocks. Shanahan is very physical and has a bit of a nasty streak in his highlights. The four-star also plays basketball.

Shanahan’s final five schools are Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Texas, and USC. The talented offensive tackle prospect named his top schools via Twitter:

TJ Shanahan has recently visited LSU, Georgia, and Texas A&M. Where will he play college football?

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Four-star OL TJ Shanahan announces top five schools

One of the nation’s best offensive lineman in the class of 2023 is narrowing down his recruitment to five schools. 

One of the nation’s best offensive lineman in the class of 2023 is narrowing down his recruitment to five schools.

Four-star TJ Shanahan is down to Georgia, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M and USC.

The Austin Westlake product is one of the more college ready prospects at his position at the high school level. Shanahan is 6-foot-4, 310-pounds and shows serious athleticism for his size. He has anchored a Westlake offensive line to back-to-back state championship victories.

247Sports composite rankings list Shanahan as the No. 7 interior offensive lineman and the No. 143 overall player in the 2023 cycle.

Texas has the advantage of being close to home in Austin but experts believe Texas A&M holds the lead for the Westlake superstar. The Aggies have four crystal ball selections in following his June official visit to College Station.

Shanahan spoke with On3 Sports about what stands out from each school in his top five schools.

Texas A&M Football Recruiting Profile: 2023 OL, TJ Shanahan

Texas A&M Football Recruiting Profile: 2023 OL, TJ Shanahan

TJ Shanahan is one of the best offensive line prospects in the country, currently ranked as a Top 10 player at the position, and a Top 30 player in the state of Texas. Shanahan is from Orlando, Florida, and currently plays at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, transferring from Timber Creek High School in Orlando, Florida after the 2020 season. During his time at Westlake, Shanahan has played primarily at the right tackle position, with his impressive 2021 junior tape being the sole reason for his climb up the recruiting ranks as of late.

As a prospect, Shanahan has a solid frame, currently standing at 6-4, 325lbs, with plenty of room to add weight once he commits to a program. He has a wide base and is quick out of his stance in pass protection, shows great hand strength and positioning, and looks comfortable from an athletic standpoint at the tackle spot, with the ability to shift inside due to his overall strength and impressive footwork. As a run blocker, he displays a mauler mentality, dead set on clearing a path for his running back no matter who gets in his way, finishing his blocks at a consistent rate. TJ Shanahan has the opportunity to continue his strong play going into his 2022 senior season.

(Insert Player Name)’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 3 – 56th 20th
Rivals 5 10th 2nd 1st
ESPN 4 111th 21st 13th
On3 Recruiting 4 292nd 52nd 26th
247 Composite 4 142nd 24th 7th

Vitals

Hometown Orlando, Florida
Projected Position Offensive guard
Height 6-4
Weight 325lbs
Class 2023

 

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Film

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