The Aggies added their 10th commitment of the 2025 class and their second corner when Phoenix Desert Edge’s Jamar Beal-Goines made his verbal pledge. Beal-Goines has been a priority for Peterson, A&M’s defensive backs coach, since his time at Kansas.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Beal-Goines has been a popular recruit on the West Coast, picking up offers from both Arizona state schools as well as Utah, Oregon and Washington. The Aggies were a relatively late arrival to the party, offering him on Jan. 30, but quickly moved up the preference list. After an unofficial visit in mid-April, it seemed that A&M had moved to the top of his list, but his commitment still came as a bit of surprise.
Like everything else he does, Beal-Goines made the commitment quickly. The 3-star corner has been a popular recruit not just for his size, but his speed. He has been timed running the 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.29 seconds, and has run the 100-meter dash in an equally fast 10.4 seconds. Beal-Goines is considered one of, if the not the, fastest player in the 2025 class regardless of position.
There’s no doubt Peterson and the Aggies wanted Beal-Goines for his speed, but he’s not just a fast guy who plays football. He’s a fast football player.
I will admit that I was happy to see his highlights start with a punt return, because I immediately thought, “There’s your future punt returner.” The Washington Redskins used to put Darrell Green — the only corner I know that ran faster than a 4.29 40 — back to return punts when they needed a game-changing play. Beal-Goines could do that as well.
But let’s look at his abilities as a corner. He shows in his highlights that he’s capable of playing zone, playing man off the wideout and playing press man. He knows he has the ability to recover and catch up with a receiver, so in some cases he’s playing the quarterback as much as he is the wideout. But he’s almost like a tease; a quarterback can think that his guy is open and Beal-Goines just hits the gas and is able to make a play on the ball. On shorter routes, the receiver has trouble getting any separation at all.
One thing that he has are excellent instincts. He has a good feel for when a receiver is going to make a cut or break in for a pass and is able to stick with him. A lot of fast guys (Steven Terrell comes to mind) can go fast in a straight line, but have trouble flipping their hips and going. Beal-Goines looks like he can do that. I also like that, in most cases, he actually looks back for the ball and can make a play on it.
Corners in the SEC had better be ready to come up and play against the run, and Beal-Goines shows he doesn’t mind that. He’ll pursue with that elite speed and put a pop on a ballcarrier.
I get that speed doesn’t always translate to production, but this guy looks like more than a 5.5 3-star to me. He covers well, he’s got good technique and, by the way, he could be the fastest senior in America. Even if he was a raw talent, he’s a take — but he’s a whole lot more than that.