I have fairly high expectations for the 2020 Aggie defense. Defensive coordinator Mike Elko is one of the top defensive minds in the game and will be entering his third season in Aggieland. He has helped immediately turn around a defense that from 2013-2017 gave up an average of 431.4 yards per game and ranked 87th in the nation. Elko engineered quite the overhaul as the Aggies have had one of the top run defenses the past two seasons and are giving up just 344.5 yards per game and have had the 32nd and 29th ranked defenses the past two seasons. All of this despite playing top offenses such as Alabama, Clemson, and LSU each year. Now that Elko has started to get some of his own elite recruits into his system, I expect even better production.
Areas of Concern:
- Lack of Turnovers
The Aggies ranked 114th in the nation last year in creating turnovers with only 14 takeaways (4 of which came in the first game against Texas State). One of the biggest momentum changers in the game and keys to being victorious is winning the turnover battle and the Texas A&M defense has not done a good enough job of that over the past two seasons. These quick changes of possession can frustrate an opposing quarterback and offense while also giving your own offense a shorter field to work with, making it easier to score touchdowns. Mike Elko has one of his secondary spots locked down by sophomore Demani Richardson, who was the first player to intercept Tua Tagovailoa last season. He will have much more talent to play with in the secondary this season with guys like five star corner Jaylon Jones, JUCO transfer Brian George, five star corner Erick Young, and dependable senior Myles Jones having a much improved offseason. The defensive backs he will be putting on the field should be faster and able to stick with receivers much better and have the instincts to come away with interceptions at a higher rate. Of course, quarterbacks are more prone to mistakes when they are under duress which leads into the next area of concern…
- Pass Rush
Texas A&M only registered 25 sacks all of last season which ranked 70th in the nation and 9th in the SEC. Mike Elko likes to dial up pressure from all different levels of the defense, sometimes by blitzing linebackers while at other times walking down a safety or bringing a cornerback off the edge. Last year, with a suspect secondary, Elko was forced to keep more players in coverage on passing downs and had to rely on just the front four to create some havoc around the quarterback and they were all too often unable to do just that. It is imperative that a defense is able to generate a pass rush with just the defensive line so that it can allow Elko to disguise coverages on the back end and confuse the opposing quarterback. This season, the Aggie defense needs to be able to make the offense uncomfortable without having to always blitz extra players.
Reasons to be Encouraged:
- Returning Production
As mentioned earlier, the 2019 Texas A&M defense was good enough for 29th last season and returned 74% of the production from that unit. While they will have to replace their best cover corner from last year in Elijah Blades (who opted out this season most likely due to injury), they return several players with significant starting experience. Mike Elko and Jimbo Fisher have a luxury when you consider that they return ¾ of the defensive front, both starting linebackers, and four defensive backs with lots of playing time. Mix in some of those top ranked recruits from the last two classes and this defense will be the strength of the team.
- Front Seven (or rather Six)
While the Aggies did lose their best player up front from last season in defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (3rd round NFL draft pick of Baltimore Ravens), I don’t foresee a step back at all for this group. The best unit on this entire team from an overall talent and depth standpoint is the defensive line. Demarvin Leal burst onto the scene as a true freshman last season and really turned it on in the second half of the year once he was fully healthy. With his unique skill set and size (6’4”, 290 pounds) he will be moved all around up front and cause havoc wherever he is. Throw in future NFL draft picks at defensive tackle in Bobby Brown (pre-season 2nd team all-conference pick) and Jayden Peevy and this will once again be a very tough team to run the ball on. Texas A&M also returns both starting linebackers from last season as redshirt junior Anthony Hines and senior Buddy Johnson are back. Both stepped into starting roles for the first time last season and combined for 150 tackles and 20 tackles for loss. Now that each has a year of starting experience under their belt, it’s only reasonable to expect improvement this upcoming season.
Quick Whits 