Who will catch on?
» Competition wide open to become A&M’S No. 1 receiver.
COLLEGE STATION — “So what? What’s next?” is one of former Houston Rockets coach Mike D’antoni’s favorite mantras, one Texas A&M has put a bit of a twist on a little more than a week until kickoff of the Aggies’ delayed season: “What? Who’s next?”
The “what” is in response to receiver and former team captain Jhamon Ausbon’s abrupt departure from the program over the weekend. Ausbon claimed he will begin preparing for the NFL instead of playing his senior season.
“Who’s next” is who will take the leading returning receiver’s place — an answer third-year A&M coach Jimbo Fisher won’t have until a few games into the season, at least on the dependability and consistency front.
The Aggies’ top three receivers from last season — Ausbon, Quartney Davis and Kendrick Rogers — all left the program prior to their senior year, with Davis and Rogers entering the 2020 NFL draft. Neither was selected, and neither made a Week 1 NFL roster as an undrafted free agent.
Meantime, in another example how football can be the cruelest of contests, a receiver who dearly wanted to play his senior season for the Aggies, Cam Buckley, tore his ACL in late August and is out for the season.
“I just want to break down and cry,” Buckley posted to social media soon after.
No one could blame A&M receivers coach Dameyune Craig if he felt likewise, with the Aggies’ Sept. 26 opener against Vanderbilt at Kyle Field drawing closer. In addition, while starting tight end Jalen Wydermyer returns for his sophomore season, the Aggies’ top two backups at the position, Baylor Cupp (shoulder) and Blake Smith (knee), are out for the season with injuries that occurred during camp.
So back to who’s next: Five-star receiver Demond Demas of Tomball hasn’t played in a game in nearly two years after the UIL ruled him ineligible last year following a move from North Forest High. But Demas likely will be counted on immediately against Vanderbilt — and more importantly a week later when the No. 10 Aggies travel to No. 2 Alabama on Oct. 3.
Ausbon described Demas as a “freak of nature.” A&M senior quarterback Kellen Mond, entering his fourth season as starter, is hoping so, considering he lost his top target and batterymate dating to IMG Academy in high school in Ausbon.
The Aggies also have multiple unproven but intriguing pass-catchers in Jalen Preston, Caleb Chapman, Kam Brown, Dylan Wright, Chase Lane and Moose Muhammad III. Junior Hezekiah Jones (17 career catches) is back in the mix, too, after missing the 2019 season with an injury.
Last year out of necessity, Fisher switched speedster Ainias Smith from receiver to running back when the Aggies were down to one scholarship back for the Texas Bowl in Isaiah Spiller. Fisher enjoyed Smith so much in the backfield that he left him there in the offseason.
That might change early this season, however, depending on how Demas, Preston, Lane and others perform out of the gate.
“He’s going to stay there (at running back), and we’ll do different things with him as we go,” Fisher said of Smith, younger brother of NFL veteran defensive back Maurice Smith. “In recruiting, people asked, ‘What is he?’ My description was, ‘Football player.’ He has a naturalness to the game, whether it’s as a running back, receiver or returner, and I feel like if he had to be, he could be a heck of a defensive back.
“He has natural instincts to play this game, along with a set of physical skills and toughness and competitiveness that’s very good. (However) we can create matchups or get the ball in his hands, good things will happen.”
Another intriguing newcomer is Devon Achane of Fort Bend Marshall, the state’s 2020 Gatorade boys track athlete of the year.
“He’s playing running back, he’s playing in the slot, we flex him out, do those kinds of things,” Fisher said of Achane.
A&M and the rest of the SEC are playing a 10-game schedule, all within the league, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this much is clear a little more than a week until the season starts: Mond’s top receiving targets are very much to be determined.