Freshmen made a huge contribution to the Texas A&M football team this past season. Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin made full use of his class of 2015. Of the 26 signees only seven did not see the field. That experience should pay dividends down the road.

The defensive side of the football is where most of the action was for Aggies newcomers this season. A total of 11 players took the field for the first time. Six more on offense saw their first playing time at Texas A&M.

Player Position Starts Games Played
Christian Kirk WR 11 13
Jordan Davis WR 3 11
Connor Lanfear OL 0 12
Keaton Sutherland OL 7 12
Damion Ratley WR 7 12
Daylon Mack DL 0 13
Richard Moore LB 4 8
Dwaine Thomas LB 0 10
Landis Durham LB 0 5
Riley Garner LB 0 13
Kingsley Keke DL 0 13
James Lockhart DL 0 4
Justin Dunning DB 1 11
Deshawn Capers-Smith DB 0 6
Kyler Murray QB 3 8
Daniel LaCamera P/K 0 1
Jake Hubenak QB 1 5
Claude George LB 4 11
Justin Evans S 12 12

Overall, the 2015 recruiting class played in 180 games and started 53. Seven players started multiple games, led by S Justin Evans, WR Christian Kirk (11), OL Keaton Sutherland (7) and WR Damion Ratley (7).

OFFENSIVE IMPACT

Five-star WR Christian Kirk had one of the most prolific true freshman seasons in Aggies history. Kirk led the Aggies with 80 pass receptions for 1,009 yards and seven touchdowns. He also returned 20 kickoffs for 385 yards (19.3-yard average) and returned 14 punts for 341 yards (24.4-yard average) and two touchdowns. In addition, Kirk added 54 yards on 11 rushing attempts.

Aggies fans can’t wait to see what this budding star will do for an encore.

Four-star WR Jordan Davis played regularly this season. He caught two passes for seven yards and one touchdown. He also returned one kickoff for 12 yards. Four-star OLs Connor Lanfear and Keaton Sutherland also got valuable experience in the trenches this season.

Another pleasant surprise was three-star WR Damion Ratley, who caught 15 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

JUCO QB Jake Hubenak played in six games and started the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl game vs. Louisville. For the season, Hubenak threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns with most of those stats coming in his only start.

DEFENSIVE IMPACT

JUCO DB Justin Evans made the biggest impact. Evans was the Aggies’ third-leading tackler with 78 stops, including 47 solo, which ranked second on the team. Evans had one tackle for loss and intercepted a pass. He had two games of double-digit tackles. Evans recorded 10 tackles vs. Alabama and also 10 tackles vs. Vanderbilt. In three other games, he came up with nine tackles.

Five-star DL Daylan Mack played in all 13 games this season and recorded 32 tackles, including 9.5 for loss. He is expected to be the next big name on the Aggies’ defensive line.

Three-star LB Richard Moore saw significant playing time as well, participating in eight games and making 39 tackles (23 solo), including 7.5 for loss. He had one sack.

Freshmen LBs Dwaine Thomas, Landis Durham, and Riley Garner got valuable experience as did JUCO LB Claude George, who played in 10 games and had 22 tackles, including 2.5 for loss.

Freshmen DLs Kingsley Keke and James Lockhart got playing time as did DBs Justin Dunning and Deshawn Capers-Smith.

REDSHIRTS AND DEFECTIONS

Five-star QB Kyler Murray played in eight games, threw for 686 yards and five touchdowns (7 interceptions) before transferring to Oklahoma.

Only about a handful of players from the recruiting class of 2015 did not play and are redshirted. Three-star P/K Daniel LaCamera played in just one game and had four kickoffs for 252 yards. He also converted all three PAT kick tries.

Four-star DBs Roney Elam and Larry Pryor; four-star OL Trevor Elbert and three-star OL Erik McCoy, along with four-star RB Jay Bradford and three-star RB Kendall Bussey are redshirted along with four-star WR Kemah Siverand.

OVERVIEW

With so many freshmen seeing action this season, the Aggies should field veteran teams in the coming years if they can keep them in College Station. And that should make for an interesting depth chart in 2016 with many experienced players vying for playing time at almost every position.