Spring Check-In: Texas A&M

1. What was the general mood of spring in College Station this year?

"Meh."

I can't remember there being less buzz surrounding Aggie Football since the Mike Sherman era. We lost our best defensive player in a decade, a veteran QB leader, and a slew of NFL talent. On the other hand, expectations are lower than they have been since joining the SEC, so that's been refreshing.

2. What does the Aggie QB situation look like now that spring has wrapped? Do you expect any change by the regular season?

Same drill: for the third time in four seasons, there's no clear-cut frontrunner in the QB battle. And Sumlin has said he doesn't expect to decide before August.

3. Have any other playmakers emerged on offense besides Christian Kirk?

The 1-2 punch of Trayveon Williams and Keith Ford at running back got overlooked some last season, but now it's looking like it might be the bread and butter while we break in a new QB without much of a proven supporting cast for Kirk.

4. How's the defense looking without Myles Garrett?

Uhhh, yeah. Not great. Losing Daeshon Hall is huge as well, and we also lost some key role players in the front seven both to the NFL and to transfers. The bright spot of the defense is safety: Armani Watts and Donovan Wilson are both huge playmakers.

5. It feels cliched to ask about Kevin Sumlin's job status, but it also doesn't feel like last year really changed anything. Is he on the alleged "hot seat"?

You nailed it. Everyone kept saying last year was "make or break" for Sumlin, yet...he's still here after his third straight 8-5 finish. He managed to have just a good enough 8-5 to stick around. And it will be somehow even harder for him to stick around without improvement despite having less to work with this season. I'm not counting him out just yet, though.