Determine the size of the Aggies' receiver at quarterback

COLLEGE STATION — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh called junior JJ McCarthy the best quarterback in Wolverines history. McCarthy has Michigan in the College Football Playoff title game Monday night at NRG Stadium.

Washington coach Calen de Boer said he considered Michael Penix Jr. a future Heisman Trophy candidate when Penix was a freshman at Indiana. Penix faces Washington in the CFP title game against Michigan.

The teams they beat in the CFP Championship semifinals on New Year's Day had talented but less experienced quarterbacks in two Texans: Alabama's Jalen Milroe and Texas' Quinn Ewers.

The moral of the playoff: Experience matters at the quarterback position, and McCarthy and Penix have excelled on the second-biggest stage in college football, and the biggest stage remains in Houston.

So where does that leave Texas A&M, which has been looking outward since the CFP program began nearly a decade ago, in a year or two on the quarterback front? The Aggies should be in good shape at the vital position, especially if they can keep Conner Weigman healthy this fall.

Wegman, a former Bridgeland High standout, was a five-star signee in the Class of 2022 and the third-ranked quarterback in the country behind Penn State's Drew Allard and Clemson's Cade Klubnik out of Austin Westlake. Weigman earned the starting job at A&M last summer but broke his foot four games into the season.

He was replaced by Max Johnson, who was injured nine games into the season, and was replaced by Jaylen Henderson, who was injured in the first game of the Texas Bowl and replaced by true freshman Marcell Reed.

Wegman, who will be a redshirt sophomore in 2024, has eight starts under his belt entering coach Mike Elko's first season at A&M. He will be the starter entering the summer, with Reid and Henderson battling it out as backup. Johnson transfers to North Carolina.

Reed looked sharp after settling down during the Aggies' 31-23 Texas Bowl loss to Oklahoma State. He had previously been hoping for a little action in the fourth quarter before Henderson injured his right (non-throwing) arm on the first play, prompting Reed into a surprise early action.

A&M fired Jimbo Fisher on November 12 for failing to compete for Southeastern Conference titles and hired Elko from Duke. Elko was Fisher's defensive coordinator at A&M from 2018-2021, and Elko opted to retain Fisher's 2024 recruit at quarterback, Myles O'Neill, of Marblehead, Mass.

The geographic draw away from College Station helped on both sides. O'Neal played his senior season at The Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, and Elko grew up in South Brunswick, New Jersey.

“Hohn School is a school I know very well. I grew up 10 minutes down the road from there,” Elko said. “So (that) was interesting. He's a really talented midfielder who has been very productive. He's a big-armed kid with a really great presence, so I'm really excited that he's going to be the quarterback of the class.

At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, O'Neal is the largest of the projected quartet of quarterbacks he is set to join in the summer. Johnson is a similar size, but he's headed to the Mack Brown program with his brother, Jake Johnson, a former standout at A&M.

The Aggies, 7-6 in Fisher's final season and 12-13 in the last two seasons, have their fair share of issues to solve in 2024, but the quarterback shouldn't be one of them with Weigman back for another round.

He'll be eligible for the NFL Draft in a year after three seasons at A&M but has a long way to go before becoming a first- or second-round pro, likely keeping him in the 2025 season for the Aggies. Wegman has completed 69 percent of his passes this season compared to 55 percent in five games last year, showing how much growth can occur between seasons.

Washington is in its second season with DeBoer and second season with Penix after transferring from Indiana State, which should give A&M at least a glimmer of hope that it can get back into the swing of things fairly quickly with a new coach and a wide receiver era. – An open transfer portal, which Elko has shown his willingness to use early.

“In this day and age, a gateway is critical,” Elko said. “There will be a few kids still looking to sign in February, and if there are kids who we think add value, we will certainly go after each one of them aggressively.”

Elko can take some comfort as he continues to adapt at A&M where Fisher left him in good shape at the quarterback position.