Ausbon settles into role as a leader of the offense
Sophomore receiver determined to build on solid first season
COLLEGE STATION — Back in high school, receiver Jhamon Ausbon was all over the map. Really. He played his first two years of high school football at Episcopal. He played his junior season at St. Thomas, before spending his senior season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where he was a teammate of A&M quarterback Kellen Mond.
Ausbon’s mind was all over the map, too, in pledging to three universities — Baylor, LSU and A&M — in the midst of playing for three high schools. In the end and after all his travels, Ausbon settled on the school among the trio closest to his original home.
“So it worked out perfect,” he said with a smile.
It’s worked out for the Aggies a year into his college career, and Ausbon is considered a leader on an offense loaded with fellow sophomore receivers. At the end of last season, then-team leader Christian Kirk, A&M’s star receiver, pulled Ausbon aside.
“Before he left he told me, ‘Get these young guys together, and make sure you’re a leader,’ ” Ausbon said.
Not only were Ausbon’s freshman numbers easily the best among this year’s returners — his 571 receiving yards were twice as many as the next guy — he also looks like he could play the role of daddy among the kiddie corps.
An NFL presence
At 6-2 and 220 pounds, Ausbon is sturdy and rugged, in the mold of former A&M receiver Robert Ferguson, as both appeared NFL-ready the moment
they stepped on campus. Ausbon was an early enrollee in January 2017 and caught then-A&M coach Kevin Sumlin’s attention during Ausbon’s first spring drills.
“Here’s a guy who’s supposed to be going to prom next month, and he already looks like he’s been here two or three years,” Sumlin said in April of last year.
Sumlin was fired last November for failing to compete for SEC West titles, but he left new coach Jimbo Fisher in great shape at receiver.
“We’re all competing for spots,” Ausbon said of the slew of highly recruited catchers. “No one has a set spot.”
The sophomores at the position include Ausbon, Roshauud Paul, Kendrick Rogers, Camron Buckley, Quartney Davis, Klyde Chriss, Aaron Hansford and Hezekiah Jones.
“I’ve been pleased with our wideouts, I really have,” said Fisher, who’s mostly been hard to please during camp. “There’s nobody I’ve been disappointed in. (Now) they’ve got things they have to do a lot better, but they’ve improved a lot since the spring, in my opinion.”
Ausbon finished second to Kirk in the number of catches last season (71 to 50), and third in receiving yards behind Kirk
and Damion Ratley, with both of those receivers having moved on to the NFL.
The well-traveled Ausbon has made it clear he intends for that to be his next destination.
“You will definitely do everything you need to do to get ready for the next level,” Ausbon said of learning Fisher’s pro-style offense. “Blocking, deep balls, short balls, knowing every spot on the defense, and what coverage each guy is doing … I just want to get this offense down.
“In the past, Jimbo has put great receivers in the NFL, so all I have to do is get locked in and know my assignments and plays, and that will take care of the rest.”
IMG Academy is a boarding school near Tampa, Fla., emphasizing prepping athletes for college and beyond. It’s drawn criticism over the years for luring top players across the nation from their hometown programs, but Ausbon said he has no regrets about packing his bags for Bradenton prior to his senior year at St. Thomas.
Another step toward goal
“It was definitely a big jump in my life,” he said. “It made me grow up faster, and I would do it again if I had to. It was tough as a 16-year-old moving away from home and going to Florida. But it got me ready to do what I’m doing today.”
What he’s doing is preparing to have a prominent role in Fisher’s first offense at A&M. Two years ago, both were in Florida, with Fisher at Florida State and Ausbon at IMG. Fisher is pleased Ausbon beat him to Brazos County.
“He’s becoming a leader in the group,” Fisher said. “He’s versatile and smart. You can move him inside and out.”
Just don’t try to move him out of College Station — Ausbon vows he’s ready to settle in.