Texas A&M Aggies

"Coach's take" is a series which allows GigEmNation to offer readers a closer look at the incoming recruits in Texas A&M's 2013 class by visiting with someone who coached the player or coached against him. Today, we take a look at three-star defensive tackle Jordan Points of Heath (Texas) Rockwall-Heath by visiting with his head coach, Mickey Moss.

The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Points ranked 65th nationally among defensive tackles in the 2013 class. As a senior, he tallied 54 tackles, seven sacks, a forced fumble and seven quarterback pressures. That followed a junior season in which he had 69 tackles and 12 sacks, 14 quarterback pressures and three fumble recoveries, including one returned for a score. He was a second-team all-district pick and honorable mention all-state selection as a senior.

Here's Moss' take on Points, who enrolled in January and went through spring football with the Aggies:

GigEmNation: What's the word you've heard from Texas A&M on how Points is doing so far?

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"Coach's take" is a series which allows GigEmNation to offer readers a closer look at the incoming recruits in Texas A&M's 2013 class by visiting with someone who coached the player or coached against him. Today, we take a look at four-star defensive end Jay Arnold of Heath (Texas) Rockwall-Heath by visiting with his head coach, Mickey Moss.

The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Arnold ranked 37th nationally among defensive ends, recording 23 tackles, four sacks, a fumble recovery and a touchdown in his senior season. As a junior he had 44 tackles, 13 sacks, two pass breakups, three forced fumbles, a fumble return for a touchdown and 15 quarterback hurries.

Here's Moss' take on Arnold:

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Texas A&M's second junior day of the year has gotten better as the hours have passed.

After scoring two commitments in the afternoon, a third 2014 player is on board in the form of Nederland (Texas) High School defensive tackle DeShawn Washington. At 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds, Washington is the 10th commitment in the Aggies' 2014 class and the first defensive tackle.

On his Twitter account, Washington posted "It's official, I'm going to be a Aggie," and also confirmed his commitment via text message to GigEmNation. He was one of several prospects in attendance at Texas A&M's junior day on Saturday in College Station, Texas. He joins Dylan Sumner-Gardner and Armani Watts as prospects who gave their pledge to the Aggies on Saturday.

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The area that was probably of most concern for Texas A&M heading into the 2012 season was the defensive line.

With the Aggies entering their first year in the SEC, the coaches kept a close eye on the depth, particularly on the interior. But that unit turned out to be a pleasant surprise for the Aggies last season, playing consistently well throughout the year.

Now, as the Aggies go into spring football, there are again questions about the defensive line.

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In a year's time, things have changed quite a bit for Texas A&M. Look no further than national signing day as evidence.

In 2012, much of the attention and concern regarding the Aggies' recruiting class heading into signing day was on whether the Aggies could hold on to one of their most notable commitments, ESPN 150 receiver Bralon Addison.

It didn't happen, as Addison flipped to Oregon and signed with the Ducks.

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Team needs: There are three key need areas for Texas A&M in this recruiting class: defensive tackles, linebackers and receivers. The defensive tackle need stems from the Aggies' scheme switch. The 2010 and 2011 seasons were spent in a 3-4 alignment, and recruiting was tailored to that. Once Kevin Sumlin arrived and hired Mark Snyder as his defensive coordinator, the Aggies switched to a 4-3, meaning another defensive tackle on the field, meaning more were needed. At linebacker, the Aggies say goodbye to a pair of senior leaders, Sean Porter and Jonathan Stewart, both of whom were starters. The other starting linebacker, Steven Jenkins, will be a senior this season. At receiver there are several contributors leaving as well. Ryan Swope, Uzoma Nwachukwu and Kenric McNeal were all seniors. Thomas Johnson, a true freshman who appeared in 10 games and was one of the gems of the 2012 recruiting class, withdrew from school and might not return. There's another scholarship spot at the position in the form of Brandal Jackson, who was on scholarship but not part of the 105-man roster at the start of fall camp.

Help is on the way: At defensive tackle, A&M scored commitments from ESPN 150 defensive tackle Justin Manning and ESPN 300 defensive tackle Isaiah Golden. Three-star prospect Hardreck Walker and three-star Jordan Points (who is already on campus) round out that group. There are six linebackers in the class, led by ESPN 300 ILB Jordan Mastrogiovanni. Three are already on campus and enrolled: Brett Wade, Reggie Chevis and Tommy Sanders. At receiver, the Aggies have plenty. Ricky Seals-Jones tops the list, prep school standout Ja'Quay Williams is already in school, and there's a pair of three-star receivers as well. Not to mention, No. 1 tight end prospect Derrick Griffin would be a receiver at A&M if he makes it in, and athlete LaQuvionte Gonzalez likely would be an inside receiver.

Other key commits: A pair of Under Armour All-Americans, guard Joas Aguilar and cornerback Noel Ellis, plus a U.S. Army All-American, safety Kameron Miles, round out a group 10 prospects that are among ESPN's top 300. Two quarterbacks are in the class (Kohl Stewart and Kenny Hill), but it's worth keeping an eye on them as Stewart is a potential high MLB draft pick and Hill took official visits to Baylor and Kansas State. Eight early enrollees in the class are already on campus (Chevis, Points, Sanders, Wade, Williams, Cameron Clear, Alex Sezer and Jeremiah Stuckey), and there are plenty of promising three-star commits, including guys like cornerback Tavares Garner and outside linebacker Darian Claiborne.

Other key targets: There aren't a ton of targets left for the Aggies at this point. Their focus is on a small handful of guys. Adding a defensive end would be ideal for the Aggies, and they're pursuing Washington commit Daeshon Hall and USC commit Torrodney Prevot in that regard. Hall visited recently, and Prevot could soon. They are also still looking at another receiver. Former USC commit Sebastian LaRue is one of those targets, and he was in on an official visit recently. They are also looking at Florida State commit Levonte Whitfield, who said he plans to officially visit Feb. 1.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Some people might not believe it, but Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin says he knows the rules.

As the Aggies' recruiting class swells on the heels of its first year as a Southeastern Conference member -- an 11-2 campaign capped by a 41-13 whipping of Oklahoma in the AT&T Cotton Bowl on Saturday -- observers continue to ask how the Aggies can have so many players in their 2013 recruiting class.

Currently, Texas A&M has 35 commitments in the class, picking up two over the weekend in the form of ESPN 300 receiver Tony Stevens, who announced on Saturday at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl that he was A&M-bound, and ESPN 300 inside linebacker Jordan Mastrogiovanni, who was committed to Oklahoma since June before flipping to the Aggies on Sunday night.

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Rockwall (Texas) Heath defensive end Jay Arnold has made his fair share of trips to College Station, Texas. So his official visit to Texas A&M over the weekend didn't bring much by way of new experiences.

What it did bring that made Arnold happy was food.

"I had a great time," Arnold said. "The food was amazing. That was probably the best part, just getting to eat all the time. They fed us so much."

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Now that Texas A&M's regular season is complete, coach Kevin Sumlin and his staff have turned their full attention to recruiting, closing out the 2013 class and building on their 2014 haul, which already has begun with three commitments in the books.

With 31 commitments for the Class of 2013, the Aggies currently lead the nation in total commitments. And they're not finished yet, still in the hunt for some of their top remaining targets. Among the players the Aggies are still pursuing:

" ATH Ricky Seals-Jones, Sealy (Texas) High School: The No. 13 player in the ESPN 150 and the nation's No. 1 athlete is down to LSU and Texas A&M. He recently took an unofficial visit to Texas A&M for the Missouri game and was visited by LSU special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey. Seals-Jones said he plans to take official visits to both schools but is mum on a decision timeline or even if a decision could come before or after said officials.

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Plenty of eyes from around the country will be on College Station, Texas on Saturday afternoon as Texas A&M begins its first Southeastern Conference campaign against Florida.

Not only is the game of interest to college football fans, it's also going to be a hot spot for recruits who will be visiting Kyle Field and taking in the game.

Here's a list of recruits that are expected to be in attendance for the game on Saturday. As the week goes on and we confirm more visitors, we'll update the list. So far, here's who has been confirmed by RecruitingNation:

• 2013 WR Quincy Adeboyejo, Cedar Hill (Texas): No. 77 WR; Texas A&M commit
• 2013 OG Joas Aguilar, North Richland Hills (Texas) Birdville: No. 106 in ESPN 150; Texas A&M commit

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Many things have come to define the SEC’s success.

Among those factors is the size, strength and depth of defensive lines across the conference. And as Texas A&M embarks on its first season in the league, it's the one area where the Aggies are playing a little catch-up.

As the Aggies transition away from the 3-4 alignment to a 4-3 this year and for the foreseeable future, head coach Kevin Sumlin and defensive coordinator Mark Snyder say that the defensive line is a focal point.

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