Sep 21, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts during the second quarter against the Bowling Green Falcons at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Texas A&M Football's Offseason Drawing National Praise

Originally posted on Texas A&M Aggies on SI
By Aaron Raley | Last updated May 13, 2025 1:30 PM ET

As per usual, the college football offseason this past winter and spring was filled with drama and transitions galore, from the transfer portal to the NFL draft, as the 2025 season sits just a little over three months away.

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko put on another excellent offseason of recruiting, filling in holes that were left by NFL draftees such as Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart, and Jahdae Walker with fresh talent such as Noah Mikhail, Marco Jones, and Chace Sims.

And as every college football team navigated their way through the tumultuous offseason, fans and analysts now raise the question of "who did the best?" and "who is the team to watch for 2025?"

Of course, these are both purely questions that would generate widely opinionating answers, but ESPN recently gave their take on the question, releasing complete rankings for how every Power 4 conference (and also the Notre Dame Fighting Irish) did during the offseason and how it will impact their 2025 campaign.

The site used three main components to build its rankings, focusing on retention of key players who were not eligible for the NFL Draft, retention of key coaches or staff upgrades, and player additions, primarily through the transfer portal, but also accounting for recruits.

Of the 16 teams in the Southeastern Conference, the Texas A&M Aggies found themselves in the seventh spot for their offseason performance, higher than the Alabama Crimson Tide, and one spot below the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Aggies went through some rough patches in their offseason, losing a trio of key defenders to the NFL Draft as well as leading receiver Noah Thomas, who transferred to Georgia shortly after A&M's bowl loss to the USC Trojans.

But thankfully, Mike Elko has been a recruiting machine as he begins his second year leading the helm in College Station, retaining both of his coordinators in Collin Klein and Jay Bateman, and also boosting the wide receiver corps in terms of speed, landing NC State wideout KC Concepcion and Mississippi State's Mario Craver via the transfer portal.

Elko and Co. also recruited 25 high school players to Aggieland, with the standouts being five-star offensive tackle Lamont Rogers, four-star wide receiver Jerome Myles, and four-star corner Adonyss Currie.

What the Aggies lost on the defensive line, they kept on the offensive line, retaining all five starters that cleared the way for running backs Le'Veon Moss and Amari Daniels on their way to producing the second-most rushing yards by an SEC team in 2024.

Here are the complete offseason rankings for the SEC, according to ESPN:

1) LSU Tigers

2) Oklahoma Sooners

3) Auburn Tigers

4) Texas Longhorns

5) Florida Gators

6) Georgia Bulldogs

7) Texas A&M Aggies

8) Alabama Crimson Tide

9) Missouri Tigers

10) South Carolina Gamecocks

11) Ole Miss Rebels