The Texas A&M Aggies finished their first season under head coach Jimbo Fisher with a record of 9-4, 5-3 in the SEC, and a blowout victory over North Carolina State in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl, 52-13. The Aggies are ready to build on the momentum of Coach Fisher's first season with spring practices starting on March 20, followed by the Maroon & White Game a few weeks later on April 13.
They return starting quarterback Kellen Mond, and with the experience and improvements he made last season, is expecting to have an even better season this time around. He's also getting his receiving corps back from last season, along with the top-ranked tight end of the 2019 recruiting cycle, Baylor Cupp who stand 6-foot-6 and weighs 240 pounds, who will help to replace First-Team All-American tight end Jace Sternberger.
The one critical piece to replace is running back Trayveon Williams, who not only led the conference in rushing last season with 1,524 yards and 15 touchdowns as a First-Team All-SEC back, but he is also the third-leading rusher in Texas A&M history with over 3,600 yards. He was a huge part of the Aggie offense that forced defenses to play honest and respect both the run and the passing game during his time in College Station, but he's taking that resume to the NFL, so who will take his place?
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The next man up appears to be sophomore running back Jashaun Corbin, who is a great young athlete. As a true freshman last year, he averaged 5.7 yards per carry on 61 attempts for 346 yards and scored twice, one of which came on a 100-yard kickoff return in the Southwest Classic against Arkansas. Corbin definitely has potential as an every-down runner, but there is still a lot Coach Fisher will need to see from him in the passing game, as Williams was regularly used in pass plays coming out of the backfield.
The Aggies have also signed freshman running back Isaiah Spiller from Klein Collins High School in Texas. Like most young backs, Spiller needs to answer the question if he can run between the tackles at the college football level. The spring game will hopefully began to answer a lot of these questions because this is the one position that the Aggies can't afford to have a drop-off.
In the SEC, having a running game is critical to a team's success. If you can run the ball, you will not be able to compete against teams like LSU, Alabama, and Georgia. A lot of these questions will be answered at the Texas A&M spring football game.
