Texas A&M's 2025 recruiting class was, in retrospect, a really solid group that addressed a lot of the holes on the roster. Though the Aggies finished with the 9th-ranked class per the 247Sports Composite, they had several extremely notable recruiting wins, even over the in-state Longhorns— and two of those notable wins came at one position.
The defensive tackle spot is extremely impactful in SEC football, even in an era that is much more pass-happy than the past. Though rushing yardage is not extremely predictive of a win in this day and age, stonewalling any semblance of a run game is. If defensive lines can win up front without dedicating extra men to neutralizing any possible run threat, the team can in turn more effectively neutralize the pass attack.
That's why the Aggies' wins over Texas to bring in DJ Sanders and Chace Sims were so impactful. Sims and Sanders were two in-state prospects that the Longhorns heavily pursued, and ones that the Texas insiders believed were going to end up in burnt orange. Elko fended off every advance, however, and got both of them signed and enrolled in College Station.
Now, as the Aggies are barreling towards a possible number one overall finish in this upcoming year's recruiting cycle, including what could be an even better defensive line class than the fabled 2022 group, it's not hard to see why those wins were even more impactful than we knew in the moment.
Texas A&M's 2025 recruiting wins paving way for possible massive DL class in 2026
Sims and Sanders, as well as Landon Rink (possibly the most underrated member of the Aggies' 2025 class), are all true-blue interior defensive line players. The only edge player that the Ags took in that class was Marco Jones, who has a chance to be a day-one contributor.
That opened the door for the proliferation of edge players that the Aggies are recruiting in this cycle. They already have Samu Moala, Jordan Carter, and Tristian Givens committed. Carter could be a SDE when all is said and done, and Moala has seen some looks at LB, but Givens— as well as five-star Tank Jones, who the Aggies still hotly pursue— are true edge rushers.
This has also opened the door for the Aggies to be much more selective in their interior defensive line recruiting. Sanders, Rink, and Sims form a formidable group that the Ags can complement with some high-level pieces in this class— which is exactly what they're shooting for.
They already have the towering Jermaine Kinsler committed out of New Jersey, who has a frame similar to a previous Aggie fan favorite under an Elko defense in Jayden Peevy. They're hotly pursuing Bryce Perry-Wright and Lamar Brown as interior DL as well, which would make for an extremely elite group.
Even if they only land one of those two, it's a bang-up recruiting job. Getting multiple five-star prospects at one position group is hard, and if they add one of Brown, Perry-Wright, or Jones to Tristian Givens, they'll have done just that.