Jimbo Fisher updates health, progress of tight end room

Jimbo Fisher shed some light on the Texas A&M tight end room as the Aggies go through spring practice. Fisher is looking for someone to step up with star tight end Jalen Wydermyer leaving for the NFL, and the Texas A&M coach is looking towards Jake Johnson, Max Wright, Fernando Garza and Blake Smith.

“Jake [Johnson] has been nicked-up. Hopefully we’ll get him back this week,” started Fisher. “He had a week and a half of really good practice. Young guy, for him. But then, Max [Wright] has been really consistent. We had a really good spring, catching the ball better, blocking well. [Fernando] Garza. Blake Smith, I thought he had a really nice scrimmage the other day. There’s something — he’s got to get better in the blocking world. And some of those things. But I thought he had a nice scrimmage, executing some things in that regard.

“Those guys, they’re getting better and better.”

As you can see, Jimbo Fisher is seeing his tight end room progress throughout the spring. As the Aggies figure out their quarterback conundrum for the upcoming season, whoever gets the lion-share of snaps at tight end will need to be on the top of their game.

Jimbo Fisher updates Texas A&M quarterback competition following scrimmage

Moreover, Jimbo Fisher got his best look yet at his quarterbacks during Texas A&M’s first scrimmage. After the Aggies first scrimmage last week, Fisher spoke with reporters about what he liked about what each of his quarterbacks showed him.

While Haynes King and LSU transfer Max Johnson are the top two candidates to start this season, Fisher also complimented true freshman Conner Weigman. The Cypress, Texas, native and five-star recruit was ranked as the No. 2 quarterback in the 2022 class according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average.

“They all three made plays,” Fisher said. “All three got rotations with ones and twos and threes and different groups. We started off slow because the defense is really good, which kept us off the field. I thought that’s when Haynes started to come out and make some really good plays. Later Max came out and did a really nice job and had some plays. He has a couple of mistakes here and there on reads. We’ve got to get better.

“I thought Conner, for his first scrimmage, was excellent. He got some time with the ones and twos. I thought he handled both of those situations extremely well. All guys we work two minutes, we work red zone, we work goal line, we worked all kinds of things. Different situations in the game. All three guys had some really bright moments. Some things they’ve got to work on to stay more consistent. Allow us not to get behind the eight ball.”

King began last year as the starting quarterback, throwing for 292 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in the season opener against Kent State. However, he suffered a leg fracture in Week 2 against Colorado that ended his season and allowed Zach Calzada to take over. Calzada transferred to Auburn this offseason, presumably opening the door for King to return as the starter when he is healthy.

But then A&M added Johnson, putting King’s hold on the job in question. Johnson was named the LSU starter last preseason after Myles Brennan suffered an injury. He went on to throw for 2,814 yards, 27 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2021 as the Tigers finished with a 6-7 record.

Jimbo Fisher will continue to evaluate the quarterback competition as the Aggies finish up their spring practices.