Texas A&M Football: Meet the Aggie leading a defensive culture change

Tape Talk: Pros

Size

One of my favorite things about Leon O’Neal is his size. At 6’3” and already getting close to 200 lbs, O’Neal has the size to play with anyone. His junior year highlight video acknowledges his size in its title, “EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN TEXAS.”

While former Aggie defensive coordinator John Chavis made an emphasis on recruiting larger cornerbacks, they kept to recruiting commonly sized safeties. However, I’m not sure if there’s anything common about this kid.

Strength and Length

One thing that definitely isn’t common about Leon is his strength. This doesn’t come as a shocker due to his size. Many times on film, he’s seen flying downhill and making a solo tackle by just using his sheer strength.

Another quality that I love about this kid is how he combines his strength and size. As a safety in high school, you could pretty much just sprint downhill and be close to making a tackle. In college, DBs have to fight off blocks and then go make a play. It shows on film that No. 9 definitely has the ability to shake blockers, something that many DBs lack the size and strength to do.

This Aggie team isn’t known for their toughness, but Leon brings a contradicting mentality to the squad. O’Neal can deal a blow to anyone, so I’d say that’s a bold strategy, Cotton if you want to underestimate this guy.

Takes great angles

It’s great that he’s bigger and stronger than most DBs out there, however, it’d be of little value if he couldn’t do something else so well: take great angles. Being able to tackle is something that a lot of guys can do. However, getting in the right position to make the tackle is a skill that separates the boys from the men.

By this standard, Leon O’Neal Jr. is a man. My high school defensive coordinator always told us that missed tackles and dropped interceptions will lose you football games. O’Neal has this figured out. If anyone gets in his sights, they better watch out.

https://twitter.com/WakeEmUp9/status/1020308072693223430

Raw, Untapped Potential

As a young talent, there’s still a ton of room to learn and grow in every aspect of the game. I already said that Leon is big. He’s going to get bigger. He’s strong now; he’s going to get stronger. There’s still a lot to be seen from this kid.

With successful defensive backs coach, Maurice Linguist, and defensive guru, Mike Elko, O’Neal should explode onto the scene as someone who will make an immediate impact. As his body and his mind grow, so will his stats. Look for big things to come from Mr. O’Neal.