The Aggies Wire team is doing the same with Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2), looking to take a breather and reassess heading into the bye week. Namely, there’s no better time to take a pulse check on how the Aggies have fared through the first half of the season, with a deep dive on each positional group.
Next up, we’re looking at the Aggies offensive line, headlined by Bryce Foster, Layden Robinson, Trey Zuhn III, Chase Bisontis, and Mark Nabou Jr.
Highlights
We’ll be blunt; this section of the breakdown will not be expansive. The Maroon Goons were much more promising early on in the season, and when it comes to run blocking, they’ve been solid. Their 63.2 run-blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus, is decent, and they’re only allowing 2.0 sacks per game (66th) while gaining just 4.1 yards per carry (80th).
The drop-off in run efficiency was to be expected when losing a talent like De’Von Achane, who declared for the NFL Draft. It’s been a carousel of Le’Veon Moss, Amari Daniels, and Rueben Owens in the backfield. But for the most part, run blocking hasn’t been a stumbling block.
Areas of improvement
“Pass protection” should be bolded with an emphatic emergency alarm stamped alongside it when speaking on areas of improvement. This a huge area of weakness that needs to be addressed by the offensive line, and their second-year coach Steve Addazio. Their 47.5 pass-blocking grade, according to PFF, is absolutely atrocious and marks a decrease from their 49.4 grade in 2022.
The caveat there: last season the unit was plagued with injuries across the board. This season, they’re the ones responsible for the biggest injury this season, after Conner Weigman was pressured and suffered a foot injury back against Auburn, which ended up being season-ending.
Fast forward to today, and their porous pass protection has rendered veteran southpaw Max Johnson to that of an average quarterback. In their latest loss to Tennessee, Johnson was pressured on 64.1 percent of his dropbacks, which was the highest pressure rate since PFF started tracking the metric back in 2014. The Maroon Goons officially made history, and not in a good way.
Final grade: F
Without the ability to point toward injuries for their porous play, responsibility has to fall on o-line coach Steve Addazio for the unit’s putrid performance in SEC play. Bad snaps, miscommunication at the line of scrimmage, and Foster literally tripping over himself are illustrative of fundamental issues that must be corrected.
It falls on Addazio to get this unit prepared for Saturday afternoons, otherwise, this season is ready to steer off course toward utter disaster.
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