Let’s talk kickers
The 2024 Texas A&M football season is mere weeks away now, and that means it’s time to start our annual position preview series. We’ll take a look at each position on the Aggies’ 2024 roster to see what we lost, what we gained and what to expect this fall.
To kick things off (literally), let’s take a look at special teams.
Who did we lose?
- For the first time since 2019, someone other than Nik Constantinou will be handling punting duties for the Ags, as the redshirt senior exhausted is eligibility. He is now a member of Johnny Manziel’s own Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
- A&M also lost kicker Ethan Moczulski (now at Illinois) to the transfer portal.
- In the return game, A&M will be searching for the replacement for all-everything return man Ainias Smith.
Who do we bring back?
- Randy Bond; The former walk-on returns for his third season kicking field goals for A&M. He took over kicking duties early in the 2022 season (following the loss to App State) and has since made 75% of his field goal attempts (93% from <40 yards) and 100% of extra points. Bond doesn’t have a huge leg, but his reliability makes him a worthwhile asset.
- Tyler White: The redshirt freshman takes over punting duties after being ranked the top punter in the country in the 2023 class. At 6’4” and 225 pounds, he is certainly a bigger body than you typically see at punter, and the Aggies will look to use his big leg as a weapon this season.
- Return men: We’ve seen RB Rueben Owens and WR Moose Muhammad contribute on kickoff and punt returns previously, and they will likely be in contention for those roles again.
What other names should we know?
- The Aggies added Georgia K Jared Zirkel via the transfer portal. If nothing else, he will likely be a kickoff specialist (as he was at Georgia), but may even challenge Bond for field goal duties if he can prove himself in fall camp.
- Newcomers Terry Bussey (high school) and Cyrus Allen (transfer portal) could see work in the return game. This was also an area where the Aggies seemed to really like transfer WR Jabre Barber, but it appears his leg injury in spring practice will keep him out for most of the 2024 season (if not all of it).
Overall Grade: B-
Bond brings experience, but not a ton of high-end potential (with Zirkel being a potential wild card). White brings high-end potential but does not have starting experience. In the return game, A&M doesn’t lack athletes, but doesn’t have anyone with a ton of experience in the role like they had with Ainias the past few seasons.
Much like offensive linemen, special teamers’ main goal is often just to not get noticed for doing something bad. No big reasons for concern/alarm here, but it’s also not a group that you’re overwhelmingly excited about.