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Recruiting has gone national, which means the challenge of signing the best in-state talent is exponentially more difficult than, say, 30 years ago.
With that in mind, we’re building a six-man all-star in-state team of sorts for each program in the SEC, looking for more recent recruits with more options who chose to stay home.
Here are the best, by position, Texas kids who became Texas A&M standouts — including three who far surpassed their meager recruiting grades to become first-round picks in the NFL.
Quarterback — Johnny Manziel
Texas A&M has signed higher-rated in-state recruits — Manziel was just a three-star prospect coming out of Kerrville — but never one who made a bigger impact.
In his only two years as a starter, Manziel won the Heisman Trophy, beat Alabama, broke Archie Manning’s decades-old single-game record for total yards and Cam Newton’s newer single-season mark.
Statistically, anyway, the SEC has never seen anybody quite like him. He left College Station with 9,989 total yards, tied with Eli Manning for 10th best in league history.
Had he played a third season, he would have obliterated Aaron Murray’s career mark for total yards (13,562) too.
Running back — Cyrus Gray
Dallas’ Darren Lewis ran for a program-record 5,012 yards from 1987-90, but we’re looking for more recent impact players. And, ideally, ones who are not in prison.
Cyrus Gray, from suburban Dallas, was a four-star recruit in 2008. He was the No. 6-ranked running back in the class — 18 spots ahead of Mark Ingram.
Gray ran for 3,298 yards, finishing in 2011, just before the Aggies arrived in the SEC. He ranks third in A&M in career yards, and would have landed just outside the SEC’s top 20 all-time.
Wide receiver — Mike Evans
How often do three-star recruits become first-round picks? Manziel did it. And so did Evans, who was part of the same 2011 class that 247Sports.com ranked No. 34 in the country.
Evans, out of Galveston, was 6-5 but weighed just 180 pounds when he enrolled.
In 2013, he set A&M’s single-game receiving yards record with 279 against Alabama — and then broke it a month later by going for 287 against Auburn.
Those figures rank third and fourth in SEC history.
Like Manziel, Evans also redshirted his first year and played for only two before leaving for the NFL. Despite the short stay, he finished in the top 5 on A&M’s career list for receptions (151), yards (2,499) and touchdowns (17)
Defensive lineman — Myles Garrett
Garrett was by far the highest-rated recruit on the Aggies’ list. A five-star prospect out of Arlington, Garrett was the top-rated defensive end and No. 2-ranked player overall in the 2014 class.
He has spent the past two seasons proving the analysts correct.
He led the SEC with 12.5 sacks in 2015 after finishing second as a freshman with 11.5.
He’s in the mix to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft — and it’s easy to see why.
https://vine.co/v/iqOgADl7U5e
This play might have been even better.
A&M gets beat on this play, but look at the recovery speed by Myles Garrett. Stride for stride with the WR pic.twitter.com/bP2n5ZsI0A
— Vinnie Ronca (@VinnieRonca) November 10, 2015
Linebacker — Von Miller
The Super Bowl 50 MVP arrived in 2007 as another three-star recruit from suburban Dallas. He was the No. 238-ranked player in his class, just the 13th outside linebacker.
Miller never played in the SEC, but he was a two-time All-American who became the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft — after Carolina selected Auburn’s Cam Newton No. 1.
Defensive back — Aaron Glenn
Lester Hayes, an All-American from Houston, is one of the magic names in Aggieland. Hayes was a ferocious and fearless hitter who set the bar for aggressive coverage. But we’re looking for more recent.
Houston’s Aaron Glenn arrived long before recruiting rankings but was an All-American in 1993 before becoming a first-round pick in the 1994 NFL Draft.
Glenn made the Pro Bowl three times before retiring in 2008.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
