One of the brightest spots of the 2025 season for Texas A&M football was the emergence of redshirt sophomore linebacker Daymion Sanford, who was thrust into the starting lineup after the loss of Scooby Williams to injury. In his stead, Sanford was truly a force to be reckoned with, displaying his athleticism and nose for the football very frequently.
It wasn't perfect, of course— there were coverage busts and missed tackles at times— but it was far better than many expected for a backup moving into a starting role. Sanford finished the year fourth on the team in tackles, behind Taurean York, Marcus Ratcliffe, and Dalton Brooks, which is impressive given that he didn't start until game four.
2X SEC DEFENSIVE POTW ✅
— #HCville (@DonnieBaggs_) February 16, 2026
57 TKL, 9.5 TFL, 3.5 Sacks, 2 FF, 1 INT ✅
TOP Linebacker in the country ✅
Texas A&M LB Daymion Sanford@Daymionsanford @AggieFootball #GigEm #HCville pic.twitter.com/JWkvKt6uNj
It gets even better when you look at tackles for loss. Sanford was only behind Cashius Howell on the Aggies in this important metric, notching 9.5 TFLs on the season, making him the highest-ranking returning A&M defender in this respect.
Texas A&M's Daymion Sanford could emerge as Aggies' best defender in 2026 with another step
Most of those TFLs came against running backs and receivers behind the line of scrimmage, too, as Sanford's sack number was down at only 3.5. York was the only player with a higher number of non-sack tackles for loss, with 6.5— this demonstrates how adept Sanford was at diagnosing plays and filling his gap, getting behind the line of scrimmage to make the tackle.
This isn't even to mention the fact that Sanford notched three forced turnovers last season. He recorded an interception against Mississippi State off of a deflection, one that really helped turn the tide of momentum in that game, and his fumble recovery against Miami should have done the same.
Coming into his collegiate career, the book on Sanford was that he was an uber-impressive athlete, but very raw. This year showed us that he has begun to parlay those athletic gifts into a fine-tuned role with the Aggies, emerging as a real playmaker for Mike Elko's defense.
With the departure of Taurean York and Scooby Williams to the NFL, there will be quite a bit on Sanford's shoulders going into next season. He's improved a lot in his three years in College Station, so if he continues that development and steps up to the plate as the Aggies' top linebacker in 2026, this A&M defense will be in great shape going forward.