Projecting the 2021 starting lineup - Offense
Who will be lining up September 4th at Kyle Field?By: The Hammer
With Spring practice kicking off shortly, it's time to take a look at the roster and try to figure out who will be starting come September 4th at Kyle Field. Today, we are looking at offense. We’ll examine the defense later this week. As we know with Jimbo, he’s not big on depth charts. He keeps things very close to the vest and even goes as far as saying not to rely on the depth chart as anything more than a general guide and formality.
Photo: Logan Riely, Texas A&M Athletics
However, for a coach who says he doesn’t care for depth charts, Jimbo will stick with his guys and let them play it out. Take Kellen Mond for example. Plenty of fans and talking heads, myself included at times, wanted Jimbo to give someone else a shot at QB but he never did. Similarly, Jimbo stuck with his starting wide receivers basically every play this past year and rarely rotated in fresh guys, much to my dismay. I think Jimbo just doesn’t want anyone to know what is going on in his head, in coaches meetings, behind closed doors, and so on. He puts out a depth chart because he has to. When it comes to game time, he will stick with the guys he believes give the team the best chance to win, and it’s hard for him to change it up.
Looking ahead to the 2021 season, some positions are easy to predict. For example the running back position seems pretty set in stone. The only mystery is how much Ainias Smith will be in the backfield. But there will be plenty of battles taking place in spring ball, summer conditioning and fall camp. As the offseason progresses, we will get a better idea of who is rising above the competition and solidifying themselves as a starter. It’ll be fun to look back come week 1 at these predictions but maybe we’ll be on the money, who knows, a lot can change in the next six months.
Photo: Butch Dill, AP Photo
Offense:
Quarterback: Haynes King
Running Back: Isaiah Spiller, Devon Achane/Ainias Smith
Wide Receiver: Ainias Smith, Caleb Chapman, Chase Lane, Camron Buckley
Tight End: Jaylen Wydermyer
Left Tackle: Kenyon Green
Left Guard: Layden Robinson
Center: Smart Chibuzo
Right Guard: Aki Ogunbiyi
Right Tackle: Jhamir Johnson
The biggest questions marks and true guesswork comes on the offense line. Losing four offensive line starters and a four year starter at quarterback leaves a ton of opportunity for fresh blood to step up. I have no clue how ready the highly rated crop of freshman offensive lineman recruits will be, so there is a ton of unknown. We should have a much better idea of who is separating themselves after spring ball. Just a matter of who steps up, and at this point it is anyone’s guess.
Another position to watch closely is wide receiver. With both Chapman and Buckley returning from injury, how will playing time be split up? After Chapman went down in the Florida game, Jimbo basically stuck with Chase Lane, Hez Jones and Ainias Smith at wide out. Very few other players saw any playing time. Will Demond Demas or Moose Muhammad earn some snaps, or will the veterans keep them on the sidelines? I’d love to see more of a rotation at wide receiver, regardless of who the “starters” are but in his first few years Jimbo has been very hesitant to rotate receivers and give younger players snaps.
All in all, I like the look of this roster. Lots of talent and depth across the board. If the Aggies can find solid replacements at offensive line and quarterback, look out. I’m confident we will, I think the guys are on the roster we just have yet to see them do it in action. It’ll be trial by fire come September but I know everyone will be pumped up to see how it turns out.
#BTHOOffseason
