With just over a week until Mesquite (Texas) Poteet linebacker Malik Jefferson announces his commitment in a ceremony with teammate DeAndre McNeal, a report from 247Sports indicates that the Texas A&M Aggies are the leaders.
Report: Texas A&M the leader for five-star LB Malik Jefferson
One team may be in front as the Butkus Award winner gets ready to announce his decision on Dec. 19.
In most situations, such a report might not be all that significant, but Jefferson has kept his recruitment tightly under wraps and given few hints about his eventual destination, though he did admit to SB Nation Recruiting back in April that the Aggies were once his leader before he decided to take a step back from the recruiting process.
According to the report, Jefferson’s official visit to College Station in the middle of November was key, as well as the selling point from the A&M staff -- that the consensus five-star prospect rated as the top outside linebacker nationally and best player in Texas is the final piece in the puzzle for head coach Kevin Sumlin’s defense.
There's no question that there's a great deal of talent there, including star freshman defensive end Myles Garrett, as well as a host of highly ranked talent committed in the 2015 class that features five-star Gladewater (Texas) defensive tackle Daylon Mack, among others.
It was also a defense that ranked No. 91 in the country in the FEI ratings and gave up 34 or more points five times, including 59 in the shutout loss to Alabama. As a result, defensive coordinator Mark Snyder was fired at the end of November. A replacement has not yet been found, though a handful of high-profile names have been connected to the job.
Other factors supposedly weighing in the favor of the Aggies include the fact that Jefferson’s girlfriend is set to enroll at Texas A&M, according to 247Sports, as well as a close relationship with five-star Aggies quarterback pledge Kyler Murray.
The most recent official visit for the 6'3, 215-pound Jefferson was to Austin to see the Texas Longhorns last weekend. Jefferson tweeted out the following after the trip:
Quotes from this weekend "Great" #HookEm
— Malik Jefferson 4⃣6⃣ (@Official_MalikJ) December 8, 2014
The report from 247Sports comes on the heels of Jefferson receiving an in-home visit from Texas head coach Charlie Strong and defensive coordinator Vance Bedford on Thursday:
Great visit ! @Strong_TexasFB #HookEm pic.twitter.com/h0Rd5vV6PH
— Malik Jefferson 4⃣6⃣ (@Official_MalikJ) December 11, 2014 Earlier in the day, Jefferson had hosted Sumlin and interim defensive coordinator Mark Hagen, the former linebackers coach under Snyder:
Great visit ! @CoachHagenTAMU @CoachSumlin #GigEm pic.twitter.com/HQPqn7WAjW
— Malik Jefferson 4⃣6⃣ (@Official_MalikJ) December 11, 2014
Jefferson will take his final official visit to UCLA this weekend, though many still expect his recruitment to be a battle between Texas and Texas A&M -- in the 247Sports Crystal Ball, the Longhorns remain the slight leaders over the Aggies with 49 percent of the predictions compared to 46 percent of the predictions.
However, three of the last four projections have come in for Texas A&M.
