Texas A&M Football: Aggies DL DeMarvin Leal has top-5 pick potential

In the 2021 NFL Draft, this year’s Texas A&M Football team doesn’t have an excess of representation near the top. To find the most recent Aggie drafted near the first overall pick, you’d have to rewind to 2011 and find Von Miller, a former TAMU linebacker that was taken with the second overall pick.

He would prove that he was worth taking at that spot by winning a handful of awards including 8 Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl MVP.

But as I said, there isn’t much to show for in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Part of this is due to the fact that the Aggies are returning a boatload of talent in 2021. Another part is the fact that there was a significant coaching change just a few years ago, causing a few key players to scatter and look for new roles.

This year, the Aggies’ highest-profile player in the draft will be Kellen Mond, who could be picked anywhere from the first round to a late-round, depending on how the draft plays out. That said, Jimbo Fisher is cooking up elite NFL talent and it starts on the defensive side of the ball.

Texas A&M Football will be looking for its next college football superstar

There is a ton of talent on this Aggies roster. That is a testament to the incredible job of recruiting that has been done thus far by Jimbo Fisher.

Among that talent, you’ll find a handful of players who could break out and become superstars at the college level. In a 2021 season that will be very telling, there will be a handful of players that could step into this role.

But one player stands above the rest. His name is DeMarvin Leal.

Search throughout the entirety of college football and you could count on a single hand the players that you found who are more naturally gifted than Leal. As a defensive lineman, he is one of the most physically imposing players in the SEC and he’s still growing.

In high school, he was the second-ranked defensive tackle in the country. That said, he is not stuck on the inside — he has the speed and coordination to dominate on the end. That’s what’s so incredible about Leal; he has everything that cannot be taught to a defensive end. The physical gifts that he was born with.

On the defensive line, players can often become stubborn and unwilling to learn proper techniques. So far, it seems like he has been improving in that aspect, but if he can put in the extra work, he could be the best defensive player in college football. He has that type of potential.

That said, he’s got a while to go. He’ll be a candidate to break out on a 2021 Aggies defense that is looking to be the best in the country.