Texas A&M Spring Game confirmed for Mike Elko and Aggies fans that both offense and defense have exciting breakout stars in 2025
Texas A&M was one of the few college football programs who actually had their spring game televised in any capacity on Saturday as the Aggies confidently stepped onto Kyle Field in front of fans and media.While it's never too good an idea to overreact to things in a spring game, it's hard not to get […]
Texas A&M was one of the few college football programs who actually had their spring game televised in any capacity on Saturday as the Aggies confidently stepped onto Kyle Field in front of fans and media.
While it's never too good an idea to overreact to things in a spring game, it's hard not to get excited about a few potential breakout players for Mike Elko and the Aggies after their ridiculous showings.
Marco Jones played like an elite true freshman edge defender
The format of the Texas A&M spring game certainly favored the defense on Saturday as the White team defeated Maroon 19-7, so a handful of defensive players definitely stood out. However, none stood out more than a shockingly good true freshman in four star edge defender Marco Jones.
Jones put up an absolutely stunning performance throughout the action Saturday, tallying five sacks and six tackles for loss in total. And not one of them was unassisted. That just does not happen for any true freshman, anywhere.
Marco Jones had already been making some noise in spring practices both figuratively and literally thanks to his physicality, but he put on a completely unexpected kind of dominant show on Saturday.
Mike Elko couldn't help but comment after the spring game saying that, "Marco Jones has a really bright future. He's extremely athletic with a tremendous ability to rush the passer." That might be the understatement of the year when Jones' career is all said and done given how explosive and unstoppable he looked.
Texas A&M is going to need some new pass rushers along the edge to step up this year after losing both Nic Scourton and Shemar Stewart to the early rounds of the NFL Draft this spring. Jones will compete for snaps with T.J. Searcy, Cashius Howell, and Dayon Hayes for the most part. And it's not too farfetched to believe he now works his way into significant snaps as a true freshman.
WRs KC Concepcion and Mario Craver looked SEC ready
The Texas A&M offense also lost quite a bit of talent off of last season's roster, so the Aggies certainly need some new faces to step on offense too. The good news is that both new transfer wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver look ready to dominate the SEC.
Concepcion and Craver were the focal point of the A&M passing attack throughout the spring game, combining for nearly 150 total receiving yards on the day. Ashton Bethel-Roman (returning redshirt freshman) also made a nice snag for a touchdown, but it was clear that Craver and Concepcion were just on another level.
Concepcion's speed and YAC ability had those on site particularly blown away throughout the day.
Concepcion and Craver's immediate plug-and-play readiness should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with their game prior to this offseason.
Concepcion burst onto the scene as a true freshman for over 1100 yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns for NC State. His 2024 campaign wasn't as impressive, but he was dinged up a bit and the entire Wolfpack offense took a step back efficiency speaking.
Craver broke out as a true freshman just last year too for Mississippi State as he averaged over 21 yards per reception, scoring a handful of touchdowns.
Mike Elko had to brag on both Craver and Concepcion saying, "Both kids were [already] productive college football players. [Craver] was the toughest kid some of our guys played last year…We played KC [Concepcion] when I was at Duke. I don't think it should be surprising they will be productive for us."
It's still just spring ball, but it's extremely promising to see young breakout stars emerging on both offense and defense for the 2025 Texas A&M Aggies. Let's hope these young stars continue to build on their already quite impressive success.
We'll be back with more Texas A&M Aggies coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
If you want to see some of the wild plays that made Marco Jones one of the highest rated recruits in the nation just check out some of his senior season highlights below!
