Texas A&M football captain opts out of 2020 season

Texas A&M football captain Jhamon Ausbon has opted out of the season.

Wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon has played his final snap for Texas A&M football.

The senior captain has decided to forego his senior season with the Texas A&M Aggies to get ready for the 2021 NFL Draft. Ausbon tweeted out a heartfelt message on Monday afternoon about his intentions to turn pro. He was the Aggies’ leading receiver a season ago with 66 catches for 872 yards and five receiving touchdowns. Here is the official message he sent out Monday.

What impact does Jhamon Ausbon opting out have on Texas A&M football?

With two more weeks before the start of the SEC’s 10-game, conference only schedule, the Aggies will have time to adjust before they host the lowly Vanderbilt Commodores on Sept. 26 at Kyle Field. Texas A&M may be the No. 10 team in the country, but that only has them good enough for sixth place in the SEC hierarchy. How good can this year’s Aggies team realistically be?

Though losing Ausbon to the NFL Draft stinks for starting quarterback Kellen Mond, Texas A&M isn’t the first SEC contender to lose a star player to an opt-out. The LSU Tigers lost their best player in wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to the draft, as did the Georgia Bulldogs with their graduate transfer quarterback Jamie Newman. 2020 is all about adjusting on the fly for all of us.

Even though it was a 10-game SEC-only schedule, there was an outside shot that Ausbon would be a 1,000-yard receiver before he left the Texas A&M program. He was within about 125 yards of doing so last year as a junior. Naturally, his production in the receiving corps will be missed. However, it might be his leadership that will be the biggest loss for the Aggies this season.

To be perfectly honest, Texas A&M is still chasing its first season in SEC play back in 2012. That was the year redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel became the second Heisman Trophy winner in school history. They beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa and would have made a New Year’s Six Bowl had their been such a thing back in 2012. That was also eight years ago.

2020 is Jimbo Fisher’s third year leading the A&M program. He was hired away from the Florida State Seminoles to make the Aggies a national title contender. While last year should have been his “pop” year in College Station, that season slate was unforgiving, which is why many people were so high on the Aggies this year before the global pandemic. They are ready to take a leap.

Even if Texas A&M pushes for the playoff, they will have to do so without their leading receiver.

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