The Texas A&M Aggies have big dreams for the 2022 college football season. With Jimbo Fisher at the helm, Texas A&M football is confident that it is going to make loud noises this year. In fact, the Aggies have odds of +2500 to win the national title this coming season. With that said, here are three reasons why the Texas A&M Aggies will top the SEC.
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Why Texas A&M Football Will Win 2022 SEC Championship
3. ‘Max' QB depth
Texas A&M football had its offense orchestrated for the most part on the field by quarterback Zach Calzada, but Calzada is no longer an Aggie. He has taken his talents from College Station to Auburn where he is battling for the no. 1 role in the program's quarterback room. With Calzada transferring to another SEC school, Jimbo Fisher is looking at three names to be their top option under center in 2022.
Right now, Fisher has three names to choose from to be the Aggies' starting signal-caller: Max Johnson, Haynes King, and freshman Connor Weigman. Fisher is feeling confident that his QB depth is a whole lot better than the situation the Aggies had in that position a season ago, and he spoke highly of them during the SEC Media Days. (h/t Cole Thompson of Sports Illustrated)
“We have three really good players,” Fisher said Thursday morning at SEC Media Days. “As you saw last year, we needed them. We would have needed all three theoretically because Zach [Calzada] had to battle back in the Alabama and Auburn game, and we would have needed three quarterbacks.”
It's hard to tell who's got the lead in that QB battle in College Station at the moment, but it's fair to say that it will come down to either Johnson or King, who was the starter for Texas A&M football in 2021 until he suffered a serious leg injury in just the second game of the season. Johnson, meanwhile, played a ton of football last season. After all, he was the LSU Tigers' 2021 starter before deciding to transfer to Texas A&M.
In 18 total games for the Tigers in his two years in Baton Rouge, Johnson amassed 3,884 passing yards and 35 passing touchdowns against seven interceptions. His 59.8 completion rate so far in his college career isn't pretty to look at, but he could be having a breakout campaign in 2022, considering the level of talent on the Aggies' offense. Haynes, meanwhile, has the advantage of being familiar with Fisher's system. In any case, the quarterback position is one that doesn't seem to be a problem at all for Texas A&M football.
2. Opponents are going to be Aggie-tated by Texas A&M football's defense
If there's one group on the Texas A&M football team in 2021 that opposing teams feared the most, that's got to be the Aggies' stop unit that was consistent through the season. The Aggies finished the 2021 college football season ranked fourth overall in the nation with just 17.1 points allowed per contest. They were also second in the SEC with only 15.9 points allowed per game against conference rivals; only the Georgia Bulldogs had a better scoring defense in SEC games than Fisher's boys.
Although the Aggies have lost a number of key pieces on defense in the offseason, they should still continue making opposing defensive coordinators sweat. For one, Fisher has done a fantastic job of replenishing Texas A&M's defense with elite new talents. In fact, the Aggies have secured eight defensive linemen in recruitment, a group that includes five-star Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy and four-star Anthony Lucas, who's already got Fisher excited.
Via Sam Khan Jr. of The Athletic:
“Lucas has a tremendously high ceiling,” Fisher said. “He’s long, athletic and learning how to really play. Uses his hands well, can bend, run, can really be a productive guy.”
1. Jimbo’s bountiful fishing expedition
As mentioned earlier, Texas A&M football has been fantastic on the recruitment front. According to 247 Sports, Fisher and the Aggies have aced the recruitment tests, ranking no. 1 overall in the nation. Texas A&M beat out the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, and Ohio State Buckeyes, with a total of eight 5-star recruits. The Aggies also have 20 4-stars and a couple of 3-stars. Fisher's aggressiveness in pursuing talents outside of the state of Texas is bearing fruit in College Station, and that should contribute to the elevation of the program's quality of play on the field.
Via Khan of The Athletic:
That’s a stronger national presence than any coach in modern A&M history, per the school. Fisher’s 2020 signing class, which had more out-of-state signees than Texans, set a record for most out-of-state signees in program history (14) and had 12 states represented, also a program record.
The 2022 class, which ranked No. 1 nationally, included 16 Texans and 14 out-of-staters, one of whom hailed from Sweden.
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