Wow, Johnny Heisman looked better than ever in the spring game. Coming off a season in which he led his team to an 11-2 overall mark and 6-2 in the SEC, Manziel  was 24-of-30 for 3o3 yards and three TDs in the spring game. Of course, the Aggies had some injuries on defense, so it was mostly against the second team defense and Manziel could have taken 20 minute siestas in the pocket. But he looked fantastic and will be highly formidable for opponents this year. How do you improve on a year in which you accounted for 47 touchdowns on the ground and through the air, completing 295-of-434 passes (68%) for 3,706 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine ints, while running for 1,410 yards and 21 TDs? Well, Manziel has worked with famed quarterback instructor George Whitfield to increase his accuracy. He’s stepping into his throws better and his arm strength looks better. He can really run, that we know. But his passing game looks better than ever.

A&M opens with Rice and Sam Houston State at home and then the Tide comes in for a showdown on Sept. 14 at Kyle Field. Wow, that will be awesome. S and the Tide are still pretty sore about last year’s 29-24 loss and will be out for major payback. Should be terrific. A&M then hosts SMU, a dynamic offensive group and A&M looks a little thin on defense, then the Aggies go to Arkansas and Ole Miss, play Auburn, Vandy, UTEP and State at home, go to Baton Rouge and then to Missouri. It’s tough, like all of the SEC schedules are. ‘Bama, LSU and Ole Miss look to be A&M most challenging foes, but there are some other games; AU, Vandy and State which will be tests.

What is also impressive about this team is the running back stable they have. They have two transfers, Tre Carson (Oregon) and Brandon Williams (Oklahoma), who look dynamic. Carson is 6’0″, 227, and more of a bruiser, in between the tackles runner, while Williams is 6’0″, 192 and a speedster. They join the talented Ben Malena (5’8″, 185) and Trey Williams (5’8″, 185) in what could be one of  the top backfields not only in the conference, but also in the country.

The line lost a couple of guys including the second pick in the draft, Luke Joeckel, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they look like they have some pretty good replacements. Left tackle Jake Matthews (6’5″, 305) has 33 career starts, left guard Jarvis Harrison (6’4″, 320) has 18 career starts, center Mike Matthews, Jake’s brother, is 6’3″,280, and hasn’t had a start but looks pretty powerful. Right guard Germain Ifedi (6″5″, 320) has zero starts, but his size is fantastic. Right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi (6’5″, 300) has 19 career starts. They should be an effective unit.

Wide receiver will be led by MIke Evans, who caught 82 passes for 1,105 yards and five TDs last year. LeKendrick Williams had a good spring and caught five passes for 116 yards and two TDs last year. Derel Walker is another who can be a big impact player on the perimeter. Didn’t see much of their tight ends.

Defense has a lot of good athletes, but not sure if there is a lot of depth. A&M had an excellent recruiting class in 2013, so that should help immediately in the fall, particularly on defense, where they recruited very well. Kirk Herbstreit called Floyd Raven Sr., the Aggies’ free safety, their leader on defense. Linebacker Donnie Baggs (6’1″, 230) will play a major role as well. They’re not huge on the defensive line, actually small, averaging 270 across the front. But they have couple of d tackles coming in, Isaiah Golden (6’2″, 295), a four-star, and Hardreck Walker (6’2″, 280), another four star, who need to bring immediate help. They lost Demontre Moore to the New York Giants, but they have some athletes on the d ends. A&M also has five linebackers,  three defensive backs and some athletes coming in this year as well. They recruited heavily on defense in 2013. Defensive back De’Vante Harris and linebacker Nate Askew will also play key roles on the defense. They will need immediate help from these freshmen coming in and that’s always difficult in the SEC. A&M already has 10 commits for 2014 and six of  them are four-stars and seven of the 10 are on defense. At this point they have the third ranked class in the country according to Rivals.

Didn’t see much of their kicking game, but it’s fine. It didn’t stick out as a major asset or a liability, so it looks fine.

Should be a very interesting season in College Station. Johnny Football looks better than ever, and there is some explosiveness on offense with those backs and some good receivers and a pretty powerful starting O line. Tight end looks like Cameron Clear, who played at Hoover, may be a guy to look for. He’s 6’6″, 270. He’s had some off field issues, so we’ll see what develops there.

There are some new coaches. Clarence McKinney and Jake Spavital will take over the offense with McKinney calling plays. It’ll be interesting to see how Manziel adjusts to a new play-caller after Kliff Kingsbury did a masterful job last year. Kingsbury took over as head coach at Texas Tech, his alma mater, and will be in his first year at the helm there. Head coach Kevin Sumlin will also have an impact on offense and Mark Snyder will once again run the defense. Marcel Yates will co-coordinate the defense with Snyder. Snyder looks like a pretty good coach to me. He will have to develop his starters and depth.

Manziel and his teammates will have to get by the Tide if they want to be in the hunt to win it all. That’s a tall order. They could still get there with one loss, but would need some help. But they should be a good football team, and Sept 14 will be a spectacle when the Tide comes into Kyle Field.

Thursday: South Carolina