Will Max Johnson be an Aggie? His Brother Jake Johnson Has Flipped To QB Guru Jimbo Fisher

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LSU signed five-star quarterback Walker Howard to start the early National Signing Day Wednesday, but then it suffered a flip to Texas A&M.

Howard, the No. 2 pro style quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com and No. 1 prospect in Louisiana and No. 27 overall prospect nationally, signed his national letter of intent with LSU Wednesday morning. LSU's lone five-star prospect, Howard, the son of former LSU quarterback Jamie Howard (1992-95), is from St. Thomas More High in Lafayette, Louisiana.

New LSU coach Brian Kelly had been recruiting Howard when Kelly was still Notre Dame's coach. Howard visited Notre Dame's campus in South Bend, Indiana on the weekend of Oct. 16, just after LSU fired coach Ed Orgeron.

Later Wednesday morning, though, LSU lost the No. 1 tight end in the nation -- four-star Jake Johnson of Oconee County High in Watkinsville, Georgia -- to Texas A&M. Johnson had been an LSU commitment from April 15 until Dec. 7, when he decommitted. The Tigers' 2022 class immediately dropped from No. 34 to No. 36 on Wednesday with Johnson's move.

LSU got back to 11 commitments after Johnson's departure, but with three-star Landon Ibieta, who is the No. 86 wide receiver in the nation from Mandeville High in Mandeville, Louisiana. He is the No. 22 prospect in Louisiana and not ranked nationally.

Johnson's commitment to Texas A&M could mean his older brother, former LSU quarterback Max Johnson, could be headed to College Station, Texas and quarterback guru/head coach Jimbo Fisher. Johnson entered the NCAA transfer portal on Dec. 7 -- the same day his brother reopened his recruitment. Johnson started all 12 of LSU's games in 2021 as a sophomore after starting twice in 2020 and opening spring drills in 2021 as the starter over Myles Brennan.

On Monday, Texas A&M starting quarterback Zach Calzada entered the transfer portal. Texas A&M has freshman quarterback Haynes King returning. He won the starting job but was injured and lost for the season in Game Two.

"Max will announce tomorrow," his father, Brad Johnson, told OutKick on Wednesday morning.

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Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.