Texas A&M football: Mike Elko details DB positional breakdown in Wednesday's spring presser
One of the more interesting questions headed into the year for Texas A&M football is how the defensive backfield shakes out. Thankfully for the Aggies, this definitely falls under the "good problem to have" designation, as the issue has to do with excess rather than lack.
There is no shortage of versatile DBs on this Aggie squad, both those returning to the team following last season and those coming in via the transfer portal. That's obviously a great thing to have for your team, but at the same time, you have to ask the question: who is playing where?
I've certainly done my fair share of prognostication. It was all a shot in the dark, of course, but based on what I knew about each guy and how Elko runs his defense, I took a stab at where I thought each player might end up in his scheme.
As it turns out, I was on target with some and way off with others. For starters, Elko mentioned that Bryce Anderson, a guy I said in no uncertain terms would be spending most of his time at nickel, will instead be at safety.
Mike Elko: "Bryce (Anderson) is a safety. We recruited him to play safety. We saw him as a safety in this defense."
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) April 10, 2024
"He's not playing nickel."
The emphatic nature here couldn't but feel personal. I will be reaching out to Mike personally to try and mend fences—I have clearly wronged him in some way.
In any case, it appears the safety position is trending in a positive direction. Elko mentioned that several guys have been standing out, even with the fact that possible starter Trey Jones has yet been unable to practice with the team as he recovers from injury.
Mike Elko mentioned Bryce Anderson, Dalton Brooks, Marcus Ratcliffe and Jarred Kerr as safeties who are standing out, as well as adding that Trey Jones is beginning to get healthy.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) April 10, 2024
"We feel good about that room and where it's going."
That's a really solid room.
So, if Bryce isn't playing nickel, who is? Well, perhaps surprisingly, Elko mentioned that three-year corner Tyreek Chappell has been seeing some time at the position.
Mike Elko said that Jaydon Hill, Bravion Rogers and Tyreek Chappell have seen some time at nickel during spring practice.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) April 10, 2024
Rogers is another name I didn't know if I'd see on the list here. He's extremely athletically gifted, so I really would love to see him get more reps, but I didn't anticipate those coming at corner. The guy I have had in mind has been Hill, so I at least got one thing right.
The depth chart is beginning to take shape as spring rolls on. We're less than ten days from the spring game, which—while not definitively answering questions per se—will at least give us a great glimpse at what the team is looking like at this point in the preseason.