Texas A&M 2018 team preview
With Fisher now in charge, Aggies look for a culture change
Tyler Frisby
Jun 26, 2018, 10:22 am
Jimbo Fisher had success at Florida State. Andy Lyons/Getty Images
After a underwhelming season in 2017, when Texas A&M finished with a 7-6 record while failing to win a single game versus a top 25 ranked opponent, the program decided to move on from head coach Kevin Sumlin. Though the Aggies were fighting an uphill battle all season after losing starting quarterback Nick Starkel to a broken ankle, another lackluster year led to the firing of coach Sumlin after his arguably underachieving six years at Texas A&M.
Following the decision to fire Sumlin, the Aggies quickly turned the page to their next chapter by hiring former Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, who led the Seminoles to a National Championship title in 2013 and finished with a career record of 83-23 in nine seasons.
There is no question that coach Sumlin underachieved with the abundance of athletic talent and recruiting depth that coach Fisher will luckily inherit. A&M fans are expected to maintain high expectations for the 2018 season considering the fact that Fisher brings with him a strong track record of success, with a program that is built like and attracts the same type of talent he had at Florida State.
The question that comes to mind now is how many wins will it take, or how quickly Jimbo will need to lead his new team to a National Championship in order to please the A&M boosters and fanbase? Can anyone possibly meet expectations that will most likely be placed on the shoulders of Fisher?
As I turn my attention to the players, we need to examine the roster coach Fisher will have as he takes control of his new team. Fisher finds himself in an ideal situation as he will have the opportunity to begin his time at Texas A&M with a large collection of returning starters from the 2017 season.
With that said the Aggies will have to find replacements for some of their top playmakers in 2017, which includes All SEC athletes Christian Kirk (WR) and Armani Watts (S). Kirk concluded his career at A&M ranked No. 2 all-time in total receptions in school history and No. 3 in SEC history, while Watts led the Aggie secondary with his athletic playmaking abilities and his aggressive ball-hawking mindset.
Along with the loss of Kirk and Watts, the Aggies will return without starting running back Keith Ford, who ran for over 500 yards while collecting 12 touchdowns in 2017, and lastly WR Damion Ratley who hauled in six total touchdowns and gained 700 yards in 2017.
Though the Aggies did not lose a large quantity of personnel, they will suffer with the loss of a few quality athletes. Altogether coach Fisher will have his hands full trying to replace his top three touchdown leaders, but you can expect A&M’s stash of athletes to produce the necessary stars.
Despite losing those key players, there are still multiple other players Aggie fans should be excited to see return to the field in 2018. Leading the charge will be quarterbacks Nick Starkel and Kellen Mond. Both players saw a significant amount of playing time in 2017 and faced their fair share of ups and downs. You can expect a major quarterback competition to take place before the season, but I would not bet against coach Fisher finding a way to get both QB’s on the field.
Mond definitely displayed a tremendous amount of raw playmaking ability in 2017 that Fisher will not allow to go unused. A few other offensive players returning that should draw some serious attention and excitement are Junior RB Trayveon Williams and sophomore WR Jhamon Ausbon. In 2017, Williams led the Aggies rushing attack on his way to nearly 800 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, while Ausbon finished his freshman season with over 500 receiving yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Texas A&M can rest easy with the return of four of their top five tacklers in 2017. The two most important of those players being linebackers Tyrel Dodson and Otaro Alaka, who combined for 182 total tackles, 11 sacks and 4 interceptions last season. Also, the national spotlight will be shining bright on returning DE Landis Durham who tallied 10.5 sacks in 2017.
The Aggies will rely heavily on Durham to chase down opposing quarterbacks and at minimum repeat that same level of play. Lastly, with the loss of star safety Watts, coach Fisher will be excited to welcome in the 75th ranked recruit in the nation and 8th ranked safety in his class (according to 247sports.com), Freshman S Leon O’Neal Jr, in the hopes that he will pick up Watts weight in the secondary.
Everyone knows that Fisher is a very capable coach, and that Texas A&M will put one of the most talented teams in the nation on the field every year. The question at hand is how quickly can Fisher get his new team back into championship contention.
Yes, expectations should be high for a program like Texas A&M, but anytime a coach takes over a new team, you can expect there to be a fair share of growing pains. I truly believe that with coach Fisher at the helm the Aggies will soon contend for a National Championship, but patience and belief will be key in his success.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
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