If the old saying is true that games are won and lost in the trenches, then Texas A&M should be good to go. The Aggies are hoping to lock down nine recruits from the class of 2017 who play along the line of scrimmage. Five are offensive linemen.

Heading into the final hours before National Signing Day on Wednesday, the Aggies have 26 commitments, including nine who already enrolled. That hefty class includes five defensive backs, four receivers and four defensive linemen. However, the class includes only one running back, a 3-star prospect at that.

Replacing bookend sack artists at defensive end will be a tall task in 2017 with senior Daeshon Hall moving on along with junior Myles Garrett, who opted early for the NFL Draft. But the Aggies have three commits in this year’s class who play the position; all are 3-star athletes.

With 26 commits, the Aggies could add a couple more before Wednesday. But the group is already the largest in the SEC next to Tennessee’s 28 commits. Unfortunately, none of is ranked as 5-star recruits by 247sports.com.

Here’s a closer look at how the class of 2017 is shaping up for Texas A&M.

SEC class rank: 4
Overall class rank: 9

5-stars: 0
4-stars: 9
3-stars: 17

Did they own the state? No. But it’s extremely difficult to fence in a state as big as Texas and with as much talent. There are only four 5-stars in this class, according to 247sports.com, none is heading the Aggies’ way.

Ohio State has commits from two of them while Stanford has one, and another — top- rated Marvin Wilson — is still uncommitted but does not appear to include Texas A&M on his radar.

In fact, of the top 20 players from Texas, the Aggies corralled only one: ILB Anthony Hines.

Top player: Anthony Hines, 6-2, 220 pounds, is a 4-star prospect ranked the No. 2 inside linebacker in the country. The Aggies have struggled lately at linebacker and Hines could become part of the answer.

Still chasing: While getting CB Kendall Sheffield to flip would be huge, the JUCO transfer who played his freshman year at Alabama is a hard-commit to Ohio State. Sheffield took an official visit to Texas A&M in December.

Best unit: Two 4-star receivers and another 3-star have already enrolled and another 3-star has committed. This class hopes to enhance the Aggies’ growing reputation for producing elite receivers. The top two WR recruits, Jhamon Ausbon and Hezekiah Jones are already on campus and hoping to be next in line of exciting and explosive playmakers. The Aggies return Christian Kirk but have several holes to fill, too.

Biggest area of need filled: With the departure of Hall and Garrett at defensive end, the Aggies got commitments from three 3-star athletes who could provide depth at the position. Michael Clemons, Tyree Johnson, and Ondario Robinson are hard-commits who could eventually battle for playing time at either bookend.

Better or worse than last year? If all goes well and the Aggies get the players who are committed, it will be a slightly better haul than last year’s class, which ranked No. 18 in the nation.

Neither class included a 5-star recruit, but the Aggies have nine 4-star commitments, one more than last year. Texas A&M also has 17 3-star prospects, four more than last year.

It’s a pretty good, solid and diverse group of athletes divided up between 14 defensive and 12 offensive players.