Five things to watch at Aggies’ spring practice.
COLLEGE STATION — Five things to watch as Texas A&M begins spring practice on Monday:
Quarterback
This hasn’t been a marquee competition in a few years — Kellen Mond locked down the starting gig three years ago over Nick Starkel under then-new coach Jimbo Fisher, and Mond wrapped up his career as a four-year starter.
With Mond on to the NFL Draft, redshirt freshman Haynes King, sophomore Zach Calzada and true freshman Eli Stowers will compete for the starting job. King had the edge over Calzada last fall, at least based on limited playing time behind Mond, but Fisher said the job is wide open in the spring, and all three will receive the same amount of repetitions.
Offensive line
Easily the biggest question mark of the offseason for the Aggies, Fisher must replace four starters along the line. The lone returning starter also happened to be the best offensive lineman on the roster last season, former five-star prospect Kenyon Green.
He’s played guard the past couple of years, but likely will make the shift to left tackle to protect any one of the trio of right-handed quarterbacks’ backside. Fisher said Green might get action in the spring at all three positions. In addition, Luke Matthews of the Famous Matthews Football Family will earn every shot at locking down starting center in the spring after fighting injury last summer and fall.
Getting defensive
There will be an awful lot of straightforward fine-tuning taking place under fourth-year defensive coordinator Mike Elko, considering he returns nine starters on defense. That includes three senior starters last year in cornerback Myles Jones, linebacker Aaron Hansford and defensive tackle Jayden Peevy, who took advantage of the NCAA not counting a season of eligibility in the fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on all that experience already plus the unusual bonus season of eligibility, this is likely A&M’S most experienced defense in program history.
Demond Demas
Rarely does one of the spring watch items own a proper name, but the receiver Demas is worth the watch right now. He was arrested by the Brazos County Sheriff
’s Office on March 16 on a charge of less than two ounces of marijuana possession, and released after posting bond the same day.
Fisher said last week Demas also has been suspended by the university pending a meeting, and that Demas might be back in time for spring drills — or he might not. It’s not entirely clear if the suspension is only for the marijuana arrest or a combination of issues not only athletically but academically (and more).
Frankly, the former five-star prospect in the class of 2020 has been a handful off the field for A&M, and Fisher deemed him “unavailable” for two games late last season minus further explanation. There’s not a player on the roster who could use spring practice more than Demas, based on his slender frame and need to grasp a complex offense.
Spring game
The Aggies are angling for a return to normalcy during the pandemic, and plan to allow fans to attend the (mostly) annual Maroon & White game on April 24. There should not be a need by A&M for stressing a limited capacity approach, because the spring game rarely draws more than 20,000 fans to begin with.
In any case, A&M fans will just be happy to watch the Aggies in action after spring drills and the spring game were canceled a year ago.