Texas A&M to start Jaylen Henderson at quarterback vs. Mississippi State

Max Johnson has been banged up all week, with Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher not giving out too much information on his quarterback’s health. A huge game against Mississippi State is coming up and just before kickoff, we now know who is going to be starting for the Aggies.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Texas A&M will be going with Jaylen Henderson on Saturday night. He is a transfer from Fresno State and does not have any experience playing under Fisher quite yet. Now, it’s a huge opportunity for Henderson against an SEC West opponent.

“Can confirm via source that Texas A&M quarterback Jaylen Henderson will be getting the start tonight for the Aggies,” On3’s Pete Nakos said via X. “Henderson is a Fresno State transfer. He played in five games in two seasons at Fresno, throwing 5-of-8 for 49 yards.”

ESPN’s Pete Thamel was first to report the news.

Henderson is a former three-star recruit who was part of the 2021 recruiting cycle, ranked as the No. 1029 recruit in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

In the week leading up to the game, Fisher confirmed Henderson would be the guy if Johnson was not available. However, we could see Marcel Reed on the field as well at one point or another.

“Jaylen (Henderson) would be the next quarterback and he would play,” Fisher said on Monday. “He and Marcel (Reed) would play. They’re the three and fours.”

Texas A&M clarifies confusing pregame warm-up moment

An interesting storyline developed just before the Texas A&M Aggies and Mississippi State Bulldogs kicked off on Saturday night. During team warmups, backup quarterback Blake Bost was spotted warming up on the field wearing starting quarterback Max Johnson’s No. 14.

Some speculated that it was a red herring attempt by Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher to get the Bulldogs to bite that Johnson would, in fact, be suiting up and playing in the matchup.

Shortly before kickoff, Texas A&M attempted to clarify the miscommunication. Aggies athletic director Ross Bjork released this statement, per local College Station reporter Travis Brown, explaining why Bost was warming up wearing Johnson’s number.

“Official word on this from Ross Bjork: Backup QB Blake Bost couldn’t find his warmup top. His locker is next to Max Johnson’s. Being a good teammate, Johnson let him use his top, since he wasn’t playing today. No gamesmanship, Bjork said, just a lost warm-up top,” wrote Brown via X.

On3’s Justin Rudolph contributed to this report