Texas A&M National Signing Day 2015: 5 Takeaways from Aggies' Class

The Texas A&M football coaches signed one of the best recruiting classes in the country on national signing day. Kevin Sumlin and his staff did an outstanding job of addressing the Aggies' needs in this class. 

The Aggies need to improve their defense in order to compete for conference and national titles. Texas A&M has had one of the better offenses in the country since Kevin Sumlin took over the program in 2012. They had the best offense in the SEC in 2012 and 2013, and they averaged 455.4 yards and 35.2 points in 2014. 

The issues with Sumlin's teams have been that the defense has struggled to stop anyone. The offense had to outscore teams because the defense could not get off the field. With four recruiting classes in the fold and new defensive coordinator John Chavis in place, the Aggies are ready make a serious run at the SEC title in 2015. 

In order to compete in the SEC you need to have depth across the board. The 2015 recruiting class will add some depth at a few need positions on defense and offense.

While this was a very good class, there were some misses by the Aggies coaches. The Texas A&M football team could use some more help at cornerback.

This is a look at what Aggies fans should take away from the 2015 Texas A&M signing class.  

Skill, Skill and More Skill

Credit 247Sports

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin and his staff continue to add elite players and the skill positions on offense. The Aggies added three wide receivers and a top tight end in this class. 

Christian Kirk is a 4-star wide receiver from Scottsdale, Arizona. He is a dynamic playmaker who is already on campus and working out with the team. He will participate in spring practice and compete for Malcome Kennedy's slot receiver position. 

Damion Ratley is a junior college transfer who enrolled at A&M in January and will participate in spring practice. The 3-star wide receiver caught 45 passes for 1,197 yards and 20 touchdowns for Blinn Junior College in 2014. 

Kemah Siverand is a 3-star wide receiver from Cypress Ridge High School near Houston. He caught 36 passes for 625 yards and four touchdowns in 2014. Siverand will help the Aggies stretch a defense vertically.  

The Aggies added tight end Jordan Davis at the midterm also. The 4-star prospect spent most of his high school career split out wide like a wide receiver. It will be interesting to see what kind of blocker he is for the Aggies. 

With Davis, Ricky Seals-Jones, Ed Pope and Frank Iheanacho, the Aggies have enough size at the wide receiver position to cause any team matchup issues. 

The Need for Speed

Credit 247Sports

Kevin Sumlin and his staff added a lot of speed to the offensive backfield in this class. The Aggies signed two running backs with elite track speed. 

Jay Bradford is a 4-star running back from Splendora, Texas. He has won the 3A Texas state title in track in the 100-meter spring and the long jump. Bradford's career bests are 10.48 in the 100 and 24'1.5" in the long jump. 

Kendall Bussey is a 3-star running back from New Orleans who attended the same high school that produced Peyton Manning, Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. He ran a 10.33 in the 100 as a junior in high school. 

It is not yet known how the running back rotation will look in 2015. What is known is that the Aggies have added a couple of backs in this class who can take it the distance.

Close but No Cigar

Credit 247Sports

The Aggies came up just short in their pursuit of a number of elite prospects. If they had signed those prospects then you are likely looking at the No. 5 class in the nation instead of a top-15 class. 

Top cornerback prospects Holton Hill and Kris Boyd spurned the Aggies for the opportunity to play in Austin. New Aggie defensive coordinator John Chavis needs all the raw material he can find to improve the Aggies defense, and Hill and Boyd would have helped expedite that improvement in 2015. 

DaMarkus Lodge committed to the Aggies on June 19 and then decommitted on September 17. The Aggies could never bring Lodge back into the fold. Texas A&M has plenty of talent at wide receiver, but it never hurts to add another difference-maker at the position. 

The Aggies pursued elite linebackers Roquan Smith and Leo Lewis. The Aggies were not able to flip either of the 4-star prospects. Chavis will be on campus for an entire year by the time the 2016 signing day comes around, and his impact on the defensive side of the ball should be more pronounced in that class. 

Going All in on Mack

Credit 247Sports

This was the first time in recent memory where the Aggies did not have any official visitors on the weekend before national signing day. Typically Sumlin and his staff invite a couple of recruits in to try to fill some holes in the class. 

The fact that the Aggies did not bring anyone in and basically had an all-or-nothing approach to landing blue-chip defensive tackle Daylon Mack, indicates that the coaches felt good about their chances. 

Mack decided to sign with the Aggies and will give a tremendous boost to the front seven on defense. He will step on campus in August and move right into the two-deep at nose guard. 

Mack is strong at the point of attack and should help Chavis make a monumental improvement to the Aggies' run defense in 2015. Sumlin gambled by going all-in on Mack and that gamble paid off for the Aggies.  

Strength in Numbers at Linebacker

Credit 247Sports

The Aggies' biggest need in the recruiting class was at the linebacker position. Kevin Sumlin and his staff addressed that need by signing five linebackers in the 2015 class. 

True freshman Richard Moore and junior college transfer Claude George are early enrollees and will participate in spring practice. 

Riley Garner, Landis Durham and Dwain Thomas will get to practice with their teammates during the summer. The Aggies have four legitimate SEC-level linebackers on the roster in Otaro Alaka, Josh Walker, Shaan Washington and A.J. Hilliard. 

They need to find two more in this recruiting class to give them a viable two-deep when SEC play starts. John Chavis should be able to find two linebackers out of this group of five who can help the Aggies in 2015. 

The best way to resolve any talent issue is by recruiting a lot of bodies at that position. By bringing in such a big class at linebacker, Sumlin has created the opportunity for the Aggies to have a much-improved unit in 2015.