Explaining why Texas A&M still has a sky-high ceiling following 2022 struggles

Texas A&M is expecting a much better outcome on the gridiron this fall. Even so, On3’s JD PicKell believes that the Aggies are going to impact the race towards the College Football Playoff in one way or another.

PicKell discussed A&M’s ceiling in 2023 in a recent segment of ‘The Hard Count’. On its face, PicKell believes it might be higher than last season’s already considering the talent on the roster and how it has developed. The only question in that department is whether or not it’s going to be maximized to the degree that it needs to be.

“You look at the roster and how they’ve recruited? I understand some cats have transferred out. (But) the entire team hasn’t transferred out. So this still holds, in my opinion,” explained PicKell. “In 2019? No. 4 ranked class. In 2020? Sixth ranked class. In 2021? The eight ranked class. And, in 2022, they had the first ranked recruiting class. So I’m doing the math here and, even if some of those guys have transferred out, this is still going to be a football team that has a lot of talent and ability there.”

“They’ve recruited well enough to compete with some of the big boys throughout the college football landscape,” PicKell said. “So the way I look at Texas A&M? We’ve got a Ferrari of a roster. Are we able to put it in drive? Are we able to maximize the ability that we have on offense and on defense?”

Still, talent wasn’t enough for the Aggies a year ago. They were plenty talented then and still managed to lose seven games, including one to a Sun Belt program as well as six SEC games in consecutive fashion.

However, that’s where things get interesting in PicKell’s mind. It’s fair to say that there’s no guarantee that A&M will be significantly better in ’23. With that said, he thinks that they could very much play spoiler in the playoff race considering who all that they have on their schedule.

“The floor for Texas A&M? I think we already saw. I can’t imagine a season too much worse than last year where you lose to App State. But the ceiling for Texas A&M, I think, is fascinating,” PicKell said. “And just throw wins and losses out of it for just a second. Like, could Texas A&M be a nine win football team? Sure. But look at who they play, look at the ripple effect they could put on the rest of college football, man. They could put a dent in this College Football Playoff race.”

“They play ‘Bama in College Station. Remember, Texas A&M almost beat ‘Bama at ‘Bama last year. At Tennessee? Who knows what they’re going to be. They’re a team that I think deserves some College Football Playoff attention. At LSU? They’re thinking College Football Playoff,” said PicKell. “Like, if Texas A&M were to be on their game and to be a force? Let’s just say they show up for one of those games. That changes the complexion of the entire College Football Playoff race.”

To be fair, ruining other team’s seasons isn’t as much of the overall goal as succeeding in your own is. The people in Kyle Field will be far more worried about earning their own playoff berth rather than ensuring someone else doesn’t get one.

Still, in comparison, PicKell is already liking A&M’s chances. Depending on what they do in a few certain matchups, he sees them a program that could definitely make some noise down the stretch of the season as teams jockey for position.

“The ceiling for Texas A&M, in my opinion, would be beating any one of those teams,” said PicKell. “Obviously, you’re rooting for a lot more than that. But I think that needs to be taken into account. Because they’re a high impact team in my mind when it comes to what they have available at Texas A&M.”