It’s THursday night, and you know what that means: it’s time for Mail call!

Q: What is your record prediction for the season and why? (B1ack0ut)

A: I’m thinking 10-2, 9-3. Why? It’s a tougher schedule, but this is a deep team with a lot of weapons. If the offensive line holds up and everyone’s as good as they should be, this is a CFP-level team again.

Q: If the Stanford student athletes succeed in establishing a labor organization, what is the potential impact? Is it about spreading the wealth of NIL or is that too simplistic? (Ricky)

A: No, it’s about them trying to manipulate the system and initiate collective bargaining. In other words, they want to make college football a professional sport. It’s not about spreading the wealth, it’s about taking a greater share.

Q: During his interview, Damion Sanford was asked which player he believed would surprise people this season and his answer was Angelo McCollum. We have not heard as much about him as we have about C.J. Mims and others. Obviously, he has superhuman strength, but does he have the size and the quickness needed in the SEC? Do you see him as a role player, or a full series player? Who would you compare him to? (Nemojones)

A: In the position preview I posted earlier today, I had him listed as a backup in the two-deep. I expect we’ll see him a lot. He’ll probably be used like the backups last year, where they’d get full series unless that series goes long.

Q: How much are you using AI to analyze, track down stats, etc. (R23)

A: I haven’t at all until last night, when I started to use it to track heights and weights for players. I’m going to expand my use of it now, because it could lead to some articles that are unique to us.

Q: From the past, who were your five best posters and your 5 biggest pains?

A: No comment.

What was your favorite thread?

There have been so many that I’ve read over the years that I can’t even remember which ones were my favorites.

Who was your favorite Oriole head coach? Mine was Earl Weaver.

Oh, definitely Earl. I got to meet him once and we had a great conversation.

Could Jim Palmer be successful in today’s game?

Yes. When you can command multiple pitches, you can succeed.

Do you miss the fights from baseball in the 70-80’s? (LufkinAg)

Heck, I miss the fights of the 90s. There were some amazing ones in the 90s, including the day I graduated from high school — the epic brawl between the Orioles and Mariners. 

Q: Over the last couple of seasons, I’ve noted several references to poor gap integrity (DL) and over-running plays (LB), resulting in opponents breaking big runs on us. What can our coaches do / what are they doing to reduce those plays? (Rick77)

A: It’s a discipline issue. They’ve got to get it straight in their brains so it’s instinctive. It’s like watching little kids playing soccer or basketball when everyone chases after the ball. That’s a no-no, and it is definitely a mistake in college football.

Q: Have you gotten your Dave Campbell’s Texas Football yet?

A: Nah. I’m not one of those people who thinks getting DCTF is some kind of religious ritual.

Could you beat Coach Elko in the 40 yard dash? (Clayber)

Is my back hurting? I’ve lost 25 pounds, but if the back is flaring up, it ain’t happening.

Q: Really enjoy when you discuss our opponents and our schedule. And I understand your compliment of tus skills players. My question is how or can you assess our depth compared to our opponents? Meaning, can tu (or lsu) absorb the inevitable injuries that will happen during a season better than us? For the record, I think Elko is doing a great job building more than a 2 deep. (Tsmith3001) 

A: I think this may be the most complete team A&M has had in a long time, but it depends on the offensive line and Marcel Reed. The O-line depth concerns me, but that may just be because of a lack of experience. They should have talent. At running back, they have plenty of options, but again, not much experience. I think the receivers are outstanding. The tight end group is versatile. The defensive ends have a two-deep with no drop-off. The defensive tackles could go six deep. The linebackers are solid and will be better when Daymion Sanford returns. The secondary could be outstanding. There aren’t many weak points on this team. Depth was always an issue with Sumlin and Jimbo, but it is becoming progressively less of one with Elko.

Q: What is the one thing A&M has to do in order to beat tu? I.E. is it stopping big plays, better LB play, establish a run game? The one thing that even with a better overall effort than last year will cost us the game. (H273)

A: Run the ball, stop the run. They couldn’t run it either year and couldn’t stop it either year, even when Texas stunk out loud running the ball against everyone else. That should be plenty of motivation by itself.

Q: Who is missing from the roster? Any surprises regarding someone who’s not there?

A: Nobody’s missing. Everyone who is supposed to be there is there.

Also, now that It’s 5 years of eligibility, period, we need to drop all the RS and GR monikers… a RS So is the same as a Jr. (Not sure if that started yet). We can keep the age old FR, SO, JR, SR titles, but need a new one for a 5th year player. What do you suggest? Ambassador? Generalisimo? (98 Percenter)

My suggestions are DGAJ (Dude, get a job) or RFOG (Really Fing Old Guy). I am not optimistic of adoption.

Q: 1. The Dallas Morning News just reported that at least 18 NCAA basketball players will earn more this year with their NIL deals, than LeBron James will earn with his new contract of $3.95 mm/yr. One of those is PJ Haggerty. Can this be correct? (Tip despiser)

A: Yes, it can be.

Q: Soon the Ags will hit the practice field as they make final preparations for what hopefully will be a great season. What are your thoughts on their mental approach thus far and what you hope to see as camp progresses? 

A: It’s hard to say because we’re not in there with them on a day-to-day basis. But Elko has done a great job getting everyone on the same page each of he last two years, so I think we’ll see more of the same, with one tweak: they know they can win. Now they need to take the needed step to win big.

Also, it seemed there was more access for you during spring camp than last year. Do you expect to be able to see a lot of practice in the next few weeks? (GasAg90)

I got the schedule for fall camp today and yes, I think we’re going to see quite a bit. I want to say on the record that I appreciate how Mike Elko and his staff handles practices, because we have a lot more access than ever before and we’re not treated like the enemy.

Q: I can’t imagine the additional burden on coaches who have to now act as a GM with salary cap issues, NIL rates, etc.

Who is Elko’s go-to man for this? (R23)

A: That would be GM Derek Miller. He’s been here for a couple of years.

Q: 1) Who are you hearing that will replace K.C. as punt returner? Craver? Bussey?

A: They’re two of the most likely possibilities. Isaiah Horton was also fielding punts in the spring. I think we’ll start to see the list get narrowed down within the first week or two of camp. Personally, I think it’s most likely Bussey.

2) We don’t hear much about RS FR Chace Sims (DT); I know he was injured last season but he was highly touted out of H.S. Any word on if he’ll contribute some this season? (Chile Pequin)

Hard to say, because he wasn’t on the field in the spring either. But with the depth chart as it is, he’d have to really earn his way onto the field. And that’s not a bad thing at all.

Q: What steps are being taken to increase takeaways? (GasAg90)

A: I thought it was something that was just luck, but it’s really not. There are drills on stripping the ball and they use the jugs machine (remember how they got used in Little League) to improve the hands of defensive backs. Marcus Ratcliffe said that he dropped three interceptions himself last year, so everyone needs to work on catching the ball.