Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Texas A&M Football: 3 biggest questions facing Aggies in spring 2018

By Andrew Miller

GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 14: Camron Buckley #14 of the Texas A&M Aggies celebrates following a victory over the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 14: Camron Buckley #14 of the Texas A&M Aggies celebrates following a victory over the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
CHARLOTTE, NC – DECEMBER 29: Nick Starkel #17 of the Texas A&M Aggies drops back to pass against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium on December 29, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC – DECEMBER 29: Nick Starkel #17 of the Texas A&M Aggies drops back to pass against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium on December 29, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

3. Will QB competition get the best out of Kellen Mond, Nick Starkel?

Texas A&M really had only two quarterbacks that got playing time on a regular basis last season. Sumlin gave redshirt freshman, and former three-star pro-style quarterback, Nick Starkel the nod in their 2017 season opener, coming against superstar Josh Rosen and the UCLA Bruins.

Funny enough, Texas A&M and UCLA both had head coaches on the hot seat entering that matchup, and both didn’t make it through the regular season. UCLA parted ways with Jim Mora last year, after a disappointing result on a team that featured possibly the nation’s top quarterback.

However, as it pertained to the Aggies quarterback situation in 2017, things took a turn when Starkel was knocked out in Week 1 due to an ankle injury. True freshman, and four-star dual-threat quarterback recruit Kellen Mond, got a string of starts after that.

Mond showed some flashes of real potential to be an upper tier quarterback in the SEC. The entire body of work didn’t come through for Mond, though. On the other hand, Starkel finished the season with one of the best performances from any offensive player in the country during bowl season.

The wave of momentum Starkel must have gained from the nearly 500 yard passing performance in the Belk Bowl, against a quality secondary for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, should give him some sort of leg up in this competition. The best hope for Aggies fans is that pushes Mond to work even harder to impress Jimbo during spring drills.