Kickoff is just about here, so let’s wrap up these rooms.
Tight Ends
Who did we lose?
A&M loses Nate Boerkircher, Amari Niblack and Theo Melin Öhrström, the top three tight ends from 2025. Boerkircher led the room, but this group was not exactly a featured part of the passing game. I’m not judging, they helped in the run game!
Who’s here?
The official depth chart lists Micah Riley OR Richie Anderson III OR Houston Thomas OR Kiotti Armstrong. Four ORs. This is making it a little tricky for me to figure out what’s going on.
Riley is a team captain and the most experienced Aggie in the room, though his work has mostly come as a blocker and special teams contributor. Armstrong is the upside play at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds. The former four-star recruit barely played last season, but he remains an extremely large reason for optimism.
Anderson arrives from Fresno State with 49 career receptions for 447 yards and looks like the most balanced blocker and receiver of the group. Thomas caught 78 passes for 918 yards at UTSA and is the most obvious candidate to give Marcel Reed something down the seam.
Freshmen Caleb Tafua, KK Johnson and Evan Jacobson give the room a promising future, but it would be a surprise if any of them immediately jumped the veterans.
Overall Grade: B-
Holmon Wiggins has several different types of tight ends to work with, even if there is no proven SEC star. I expect a rotation. Anderson does a little of everything, Thomas gets passing-down work, Riley handles the ugly stuff. Maybe Armstrong breaks out.
More receiving production is a reasonable expectation. The wideouts are still going to eat first.
Safeties
Who did we lose?
Dashawn Fillmore, Jordan Pride, Jarred Kerr and Isaiah Willis are gone, but none was a starter last season. Bryce Anderson remains on the roster but is now listed at nickel rather than safety.
This is one of the few position groups where the Aggies did not have to rebuild much in January.
Who’s here?
Marcus Ratcliffe and Dalton Brooks return as starters and team captains. They combined for 127 tackles last season and have 55 career starts between them.
Ratcliffe is steady. He led the pair with 66 tackles in 2025 and has started 35 college games. Brooks is the good kind of chaos. He recorded 62 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, an interception and two fumble recoveries last season while appearing basically everywhere.
The Aggies also added Colorado transfer Tawfiq Byard, who led the Buffaloes with 79 tackles last year. He is listed behind Brooks, which says quite a bit about the depth here. Myles Davis backs up Ratcliffe, while Tom Tom Johnson Jr. and freshmen Chance Collins and Tylan Wilson round out the group.
Overall Grade: A
There are position groups we talk ourselves into every August. But this one doesn’t require much talking.
Ratcliffe and Brooks are proven starters, Byard is a starter-quality third safety and the younger players do not have to be rushed onto the field. More interceptions would be nice, but this should be one of the best rooms on the team.
Special Teams
Who did we lose?
Randy Bond and Jared Zirkel are gone after combining to make 16 of 26 field-goal attempts in 2025. That was enough to make every Aggie field goal feel like a minor medical event.
Jacob Graham departs at long snapper, while KC Concepcion takes two punt-return touchdowns and a whole lot of electricity to the NFL.
Who’s here?
Illinois transfer David Olano is the new starting kicker after making 86 percent of his career field goals. He also enters the season having made six straight attempts. Freshman Asher Murray has plenty of leg talent, but Olano was brought in to prevent A&M from having to hold an open audition every week.
Tyler White returns at punter after averaging 44.3 yards per kick last season. Good punter. No notes. Punter U is something I always aim to keep alive. Drew Kaser 4ever.
Oklahoma State transfer Shea Freibaum takes over at long snapper, with Boomer Graham listed behind him.
The return jobs are less settled. Terry Bussey and Ashton Bethel-Roman are both listed at kick returner. Mario Craver, Bussey and Isaiah Horton are options on punts. Bussey had 421 kickoff-return yards last season and is the safest bet to keep that job. Using Craver on punts makes me nervous, but I think I understand the math.
Overall Grade: B+
The goal is to make special teams boring again. Olano makes the kicks, White flips the field, Freibaum handles the snaps. I am gonna trust it until the first FG attempt says otherwise.