Texas A&M may be taking on the Arizona State Sun Devils today without their defense being at full strength. The Aggies were missing two key pieces last week against Missouri State in LB Daymion Sanford and S Tawfiq Byard, and while Sanford looks like he is trending towards returning to the lineup today, the early signals for Byard are not as positive.
Sanford dressed out for last week's game but didn't get on the field as the Aggies continue to try to slowly build things back up after his spring game injury. Byard was not dressed out last week after sustaining some kind of injury in the preceding week, and it looks like he is once again not dressed out for this game.
Texas A&M safety Tawfiq Byard is wearing his jersey and not going through warmups. Guessing another absence today is coming. pic.twitter.com/5plLWgndP8
— Tony Catalina (@Tony_Catalina) September 12, 2026
Byard is not a starter for the Aggies at safety thanks to the fact that they have two excellent players at the position already in Marcus Ratcliffe and Dalton Brooks, but the Colorado transfer figured to be a big time part of the rotation. His physicality and ability to quickly trigger in run support would have made him a huge asset in this game specifically, but it's looking like he won't be a part of the Aggie lineup today.
Texas A&M trending towards missing Tawfiq Byard as he recovers from injury
The Aggies have had some younger players step up at the safety spot besides Byard, though, that will no doubt figure into that rotation. Chance Collins is a name that a lot of insiders have been praising heading into the season, and Myles Davis got a good number of snaps in the previous game as well.
Brooks and Ratcliffe are set to shoulder most of the snaps in this game, understandably, but you have to have depth behind them— and quality depth at that. Having three starting-caliber safeties was a huge boon for this dangerous Aggie secondary, but if Byard misses this game, that will obviously reduce that confidence.
Elko did not disclose the nature of Byard's injury, but he didn't give off any impression that it is going to be a long-term absence for the Colorado transfer. The Aggies could use his level of physicality on the back end of the defense, without a doubt, so hopefully he can make it back pretty soon.
Texas A&M's defense should still be able to play at a very high level in this game even without Byard— their personnel figure to be a pretty effective matchup for the dangerous offensive talent that Arizona State bring into this game. The A&M secondary looks like they're the strength of this team thanks to their talent and depth, and though losing Byard is a hit to that depth, it doesn't substantially change the quality of the defense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google