Otaro Alaka
Alaka might as well change his home address to the South Carolina backfield, because he was practically living there on Saturday night. He was making USC’s offensive lineman look silly out there.
The junior linebacker out of Houston came to play against the Gamecocks. He had a monster game. Alaka accounted for nine total tackles, two sacks, and five tackles for loss. His nine tackles were a team high for the game and his personal best thus far this season.
Alaka looked like a man on a mission versus South Carolina. Gamecocks quarterback Jake Bentley is probably still having nightmares of Alaka terrorizing him and his offense. I mean seriously, this guy was all over the place. He showed of his versatility by making plays around the line of scrimmage as well as when he dropped into coverage.
The linebacker position has been an area of concern for the Texas A&M defense in the past. But now with the emergence of Otaro Alaka and Tyrel Dodson, it’s become one of their strongest position groups.
Alaka and the rest of the linebackers will need to be at their best if they intend on slowing down Alabama’s offense this weekend. The Aggie defense will be looking to continue their success against Jalen Hurts and the Crimson Tide.