Will the experience finally pay off?
ESPN’s Bill Connelly released his 2025 Returning Production Rankings on Monday and Texas A&M is high on the list, coming in at No. 6 in the country. They rank No. 1 in the SEC with Oklahoma being the next closest at No. 10. For those unfamiliar with how Bill calculates returning production, he takes into account returning yards, snap counts, tackles, etc. across each position group instead of just counting returning starters.
The Aggies are also well-balanced in their returning production metrics, ranking No. 19 on offense and No. 12 on defense. Let’s take a look at where they stack up against their 2025 opponents.
The numbers look promising for A&M. They return their entire offensive line, a full stable of (hopefully) healthy running backs, and a talented young QB who started the last five games of the season. Their returning production on defense appears to correlate well with success.
However, A&M was No. 1 in the SEC in returning production in 2023 and finished 7-6. They were No. 1 in the SEC in returning production again in 2024 and finished 8-5. Those years were spoiled by untimely injuries, program dysfunction and the growing pains of a new coaching staff. With a veteran roster to go along with Mike Elko and his staff settling into their second year, Texas A&M has a chance to flip the narrative in 2025.
Now it’s up to them to do it.