The potential surrounding the Texas A&M football receiving corps is made even greater by the development of Camron Buckley entering his sophomore year.
Texas A&M football enters their annual spring game with a lot at stake before the fall comes around. On April 14, the Aggies will take to Kyle Field for the first time since the conclusion of the 2017 regular season. With that comes a ton of new faces and schemes, due to the departure of former head coach Kevin Sumlin.
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A huge hole for the Aggies to fill along the offensive side of the ball comes in the receiving corps. Former All-American wide receiver Christian Kirk left College Station, Texas, one year early to declare for the 2018 NFL Draft, as a potential first round pick.
Kirk takes his more than 2,500 career all-purpose yards to the NFL, and leaves Texas A&M with a gaping hole on offense and special teams. As more than just a wide receiver for the Aggies, Kirk made an impact in multiple areas of the game. That’s why first-year head coach Jimbo Fisher needs to find the answer for his departure very quick.
That answer could lie with a rising sophomore, that had a big freshman campaign, in Camron Buckley. Chances are that Buckley and fellow rising sophomore wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon compete for the primary looks in the Aggies’ offense. Texas A&M also needs to find the answer under center, whether it be Kellen Mond or Nick Starkel.
While Ausbon posted the bigger stat line in 2017, Buckley is flying under the radar in spring practice. He has all the makings of a dark horse wide receiver in the SEC in 2018. With the way Starkel performed in the Belk Bowl, nearly 500 passing yards in one game, there’s going to be a ton of opportunity for young receivers to step up.
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Most of the attention from opposing secondaries likely falls to Ausbon to start the season. That will leave Buckley open to find more room in the passing game, to put up big numbers early in the season. Buckley is also a fast and elusive receiver that has the ability to make something out of nothing. The Aggies could use him in similar fashion to how they used Kirk. Not to say that Buckley can replace Kirk’s production immediately, but he can start the bridge to new playmakers stepping up in the Texas A&M offense in the coming years.