Texas A&M football, suddenly extremely deep at corner, boasts two highly-talented freshmen at the position
Maybe the biggest change with Texas A&M football from the time Mike Elko left to the current moment—aside from, of course, legalized NIL, the free transfer, and other structural things with the sport—is the depth at corner. How many times did Aggie fans bemoan the subpar play we saw out wide on defense, with receivers from Alabama and LSU streaking past A&M DBs far too often?
Now, Elko comes into a far different situation. Well, perhaps that language is imprecise—he has, very quickly, created a far different situation.
You see, things were actually far worse at the time when Elko took the job. The Aggies were starting walk-ons at corner in the bowl game against Oklahoma State after injury and the portal began to decimate the roster in the days leading up to December 27, 2023.
But the new head man for the Aggies acted fast. No sooner did the portal open than a steady stream of commitments began to make their way to College Station—with no small portion of those coming from the defensive back position.
Perhaps the most intriguing among these was former Alabama corner Dezz Ricks. Ricks was a former top-3 prospect in the 2024 class before reclassifying up; yet, he didn't see much playing time in Tuscaloosa thanks to being behind Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry. He was slated to be in contention for the position this upcoming season, but has now landed in College Station.
On the other side of things, the biggest high school recruiting win for the Ags was no doubt that of Terry Bussey. Elko was able to hold onto the commitment of the top-flight athlete from East Texas despite overtures from LSU and the Longhorns—a massive win early on in the head man's tenure.
Now, come fall practice, those two are both turning heads.
Mike Elko on A&M's secondary: "I think we have enough versatility there. We've got to see more of Dezz Ricks and Terry Bussey."
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) August 6, 2024
"It's going to be a really intense competition."
Now, longtime readers know my take here. I've got UAB transfer BJ Mayes locking down one of the starting corner spots for the Aggies this fall. But this is a tempting line of thinking.
Ricks and Bussey bring athleticism unmatched by anyone else on the team. When facing off against the top-flight receivers you see week in and week out in this conference, that is a skillset that will be at a premium.
I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a much more robust rotation than we have in years past at corner. The Aggies have enough versatility on their depth chart to throw a lot of different looks at opposing teams—and you can bet that will be utilized to the fullest by a defensive mind like Mike Elko.
So, will there be a youth movement at corner this year? It's certainly possible. It may not be week 1—in fact, I think it probably won't be—but watch closely as the season rolls on. Things could get interesting quickly.