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Texas A&M Football: Predicting the Aggies’ defensive depth chart for 2022

By Brandon Martinez

Nov 13, 2021; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Dontario Drummond (11) runs the ball against Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Antonio Johnson (27) during the fourth quarter at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2021; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Dontario Drummond (11) runs the ball against Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Antonio Johnson (27) during the fourth quarter at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Texas A&M football is looking at some overturn on the defensive side of the ball in 2022. Starting with a new defensive coordinator in D.J Durkin, the defensive might look pretty different next season.

Some major contributors left for the NFL as well. On the defensive front, an entire new starting unit will be featured in 2022. After the departures of DeMarvin Leal, Jayden Peevy, Micheal Clemons, and Tyree Johnson, the defensive line is young and fresh.

The back seven also lost some key members in linebacker Aaron Hansford and Leon O’Neal Jr. While there are some promising replacements, these departures will be felt, and it may take some time to get comfortable in Durkin’s system.

Texas A&M football has some unknowns in their defense.

With these positions undergoing construction, it’ll be fun to predict who will step up and take the role left behind by NFL talent. Last time, I predicted how the offensive depth chart will look. Now I will take my shot at predicting what the depth charts will look like for the defensive line, linebackers, cornerbacks, and safeties in 2022.

Oct 2, 2021; College Station, Texas, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Jamire Calvin (6) rushes against Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman McKinnley Jackson (35) in the second quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; College Station, Texas, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Jamire Calvin (6) rushes against Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman McKinnley Jackson (35) in the second quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

Texas A&M Football: Defensive tackle depth

Starters: McKinnley Jackson (JR), Walter Nolen (FR)

Backups: Shemar Turner (SO), Isaiah Raikes (JR), Adarious Jones (JR)

Reserves: Albert Regis (RS FR), Lebbeus Overton (FR), Marcus Burris (RS FR), Malick Sylla (FR)

The interior defensive line starters are going to be a battle for sure. I fully expect McKinnley Jackson to win the starting nose tackle spot, but the other defensive tackle position is a toss-up for me. Instead of going with experience, I went with the No. 2 recruit of the 2022 class in Walter Nolen. Nolen is more than ready to handle SEC snaps and I think they will look to heavily rotate him and sophomore Shemar Turner in 2022.

For the backups, I expect Turner to be the first off, the bench and even get a 60-40 split snap-wise with Nolen getting the majority. The other two I see rotating in are the upperclassmen Isaiah Raikes and Adarious Jones. Raikes and Jones have both had a few hundred snaps in their careers and Raikes has actually looked good against the run. Jones has struggled thus far, but going into his junior season, I expect him to make another step.

In the reserves, I expect a lot of freshmen getting either spot snaps, or the redshirt. Albert Regis and Marcus Burris will compete for backup roles, but ultimately, I imagine they get less than 100 snaps this season. The big name here is Lebbeus Overton. The five-star prospect re-classified from 2023 to 2022 and will more than likely see a redshirt season. Having him in a college weight program that young should pay dividends for him in the future. Malick Sylla is the last reserve on the list, as the four-star will probably get buried by the rest of the talent on the roster for now.