Texas A&M football: 5 Aggie greats who didn’t live up to the NFL hype

Though Texas A&M football has produced a litany of talented NFL players, not every great Aggie has gone on to meet expectations at the next level.

From old-school players like John David Crow to modern guys such as Von Miller, Myles Garrett and Mike Evans, Texas A&M football has no shortage of high-quality NFL players that have passed through College Station. Though the program has had plenty of ups and downs, they have consistently produced at least some reliable (and some star) talents at the next level.

Unfortunately for the Aggies and their devoted fans, not every great Texas A&M football player has gone on to enjoy success in the NFL. In fact, you could argue that some of the best to ever play for the program have not panned out when they made the jump to the professional ranks.

Prior to the 2019 season, you could’ve made the argument that Ryan Tannehill was in that category but, after leading the Tennessee Titans to the AFC Championship Game, he escapes that label now. The following five Texas A&M football greats, however, are not as lucky.

Forming a wall with eventual first-round pick Jake Matthews, Luke Joeckel was an immediate stud for the Aggies at left tackle. He earned the starting job at the position as a true freshman and never relinquished his hold on that spot throughout his three years with the Aggies.

In that freshman campaign, Joeckel was named a Freshman All-American by two separate publications as he helped grade the road for a Texas A&M offense that averaged a hair over 165 rushing yards per game. As a sophomore, his success continued as he anchored the best offense in school history (at the time) and helped allow only nine sacks all season while being named a Second-Team All-Big 12 selection in the process.

That’s when a certain quarterback who will undoubtedly appear on this list arrived in 2012 and lit the college football world on fire. There’s no question that Joeckel protecting Mr. Football’s blindside helped the signal-caller win the Heisman Trophy with one of the greatest single seasons in the history of the sport. Joeckel won the Outland Trophy for his efforts and was a consensus First-Team All-American.

With his college success, the Jacksonville Jaguars made Joeckel the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. After an injury-shortened rookie season, he struggled mightily to find success as a tackle, eventually moving to guard. However, the position switch helped only marginally. The Jaguars let him walk after 2016 and he spent one year with the Seattle Seahawks before he was out of the league.