With Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2) looking to take a breather and reassess heading into the bye week, the Aggies Wire team is doing the same. 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.
To kick off the midseason review, we’re looking at quarterback Max Johnson, who took over the starting role from Conner Weigman following the latter’s season-ending injury.
Highlights
Johnson’s 72.9 passer grade, according to Pro Football Focus, is the second-highest of his career and is preceded only by his 2020 season at LSU (74.8). His 7.6 passing yards per attempt mark a career-high for the senior southpaw, and despite playing behind a shaky offensive line, his 56.8 completion percentage is just a shade under his 58.2 percent average during his time in Aggieland.
Again, the fact that Johnson stepped up to the challenge in light of Conner Weigman’s season-ending injury has to be commended. Outside of external factors, with much of them falling on said offensive line, A&M’s offense has not taken a step back due to quarterback play alone. It speaks to the Aggies’ luxury with Johnson in the quarterback room.
Areas of improvement
You don’t need to check the box score or crunch the numbers to highlight the glaring area of improvement for Johnson. Simply put, he needs to get the ball out quicker. As Aggies Wire covered in a deeper breakdown, Johnson is ranked 14th in average throw time at 3.19 seconds.
Under normal circumstances, we may not bat an eye. But with a porous offensive line protecting him, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Johnson is a seasoned veteran who has consistently echoed the need to improve himself. As the Aggies exit the bye week, look for the senior southpaw to do just that by way of getting the ball to his targets much faster. It’s not ideal, but A&M will take anything that gets this team back into the win column at this point in the season.
Final grade: B-
Johnson hasn’t been exceptional since taking over as the starter from Weigman, but by no means has he been the reason for A&M’s 4-3 start. Like the larger offense, the senior can surely correct some of the things that have plagued the progress made early in the year. Among them is getting the ball out quicker, which is a simple but nonetheless key area of improvement to address.
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