Thoughts on the depth chart

First off, here it is:

Now, I think I got pretty close with almost all of this. There are only a few where I got a little thrown off.

QB: No questions on this. Casuga was likely to beat out Eli Morcos, but Hart was never challenged as the backup.

RB: Disregard. Coach Elko came out and made it pretty clear Rueben Owens is RB1 last week. Morrow is the number two guy, then Baker and Edwards will get carries. Baker has come on strong this summer.

TE: More ORs than a Roman galleon, but each guy has a different role. Riley is almost a straight blocker. Anderson and Armstrong can block and catch. Thomas is more of a pass catcher. I thought coming in that Anderson and Thomas would get the most work and I still think that.

WR: Honestly, once Jerome Myles left, there were no surprises here. Maybe Madden Williams at slot, but in this scheme it doesn’t really matter. They all move around. Your big four are Craver, Horton, Bussey and Bethel-Roman and Gregory is likely next after them. But watch out for Kelshaun Johnson. Just playing a hunch here.

LT: No shock.

LG: Surprising in a way. I had been saying Blake Ivy was making a run at the starting job, but the absence of Echols as the backup threw me. Thomas had only played right guard when I was watching. Maybe this is just two-deep filler. Wouldn’t be the first time.

C: Glad to see Echols as the backup. He may start here in 2027.

RG: I still totally expect Baugh to start. I also am not sure the first five we see Saturday will be the first five we see in Baton Rouge.

RT: No surprises.

DE: Don’t freak out over Searcy being ahead of Saka. It doesn’t mean anything. They have their roles, and Searcy is the superior run-stopper (though Saka can now handle a three-down role). They’re both going to play, so big whoop. Jones is going to start on the other side. That’s been a given since early in the spring. M’Pemba ended up being one of the stories of camp and, if he’s able to finally harness his athletic talents, he could be a really dangerous pass rusher. But this group — Jones, Searcy, Saka, Ryan Henderson, M’Pemba, Tristian Givens and Bryce Perry-Wright — were the six I expected to see on the depth chart. I just expected M’Pemba and Givens to be listed as JACKs, but they didn’t give that designation this year.

DT: Landon Rink being one of the top four is a bit of a surprise, but maybe it shouldn’t be. He played well when given the chance last year and he brings quickness to the equation. I started to think this might be a possibility when Lyle Hemphill mentioned him right after DJ Hicks when he was talking about the defensive tackles. These guys aren’t politicians; they’re going to mention things like depth charts off the top of their head and not look to throw people off. It’s like watching groupings in practice. It will give an idea of who’s working where and with whom. It’s instructive.

LB: For what I assume is the WILL, no surprises since Daymion Sanford is back. At MIKE — Noah Mikhail with the start? I expect him to play a lot, but I still think Ray Coney’s out there first. But your rotation is clear: Sanford, Mikhail, Coney, Lockhart and an occasional dose of Tamarion Watkins.

NICKEL: Jordan Shaw was the guy from early on. Bravion Rogers had a solid camp. I’m curious about Bryce Anderson, but he wasn’t going to start here. Shaw outplayed everyone.

CB: Surprising to see Rickey Gibson get the OR with Dezz Ricks. Doesn’t really matter. I’ve said since March the big three were Ricks, Gibson and Julio Humphrey, and Humphrey’s stellar summer set that in concrete. My question is, who’s next? Is it Currie, Arrington or Singleton? They want four. They have three really good ones and someone needs to step up.

S: Stout. Pretty much exactly as I projected it. Davis is the guy who has the heat on him a little bit, because Ratcliffe, Brooks and Byard are the top three but they still need a solid fourth.

ST: David Olano wins, but it was no cakewalk. Asher Murray appears to be legit. No shock at punter. As long as Craver doesn’t get hurt returning punts, I think he could be a lot of fun to watch back there.

A good thing to market

Texas A&M had 10 players taken in the 2026 NFL Draft: KC Concepcion, Cashius Howell, Chase Bisontis, Trey Zuhn, Nate Boerkircher, Albert Regis, Dametrious Crownover, Ar’Maj Reed-Adams, Tyler Onyedim and Will Lee.

All 10 made their teams. Four starting offensive linemen were in the draft, all four were selected and all four made their teams. There are currently 32 Aggies on NFL rosters, with the 10 from this class joining:

Von Miller

Mike Evans

Myles Garrett

Jake Matthews

Jaylon Jones

Antonio Johnson

Nic Scourton

Shemar Stewart

Bobby Brown III

Jermaine Eluemunor

Devon Achane

Nnamdi Madubuike

Jahdae Walker

Tyreek Chappell (Vikings, IR)

Christian Kirk

Dan Moore

Ryan McCollum

Braden Mann

Shemar Turner

Micheal Clemons

Edgerrin Cooper

Eric McCoy

I brought all this out for a reason. Of the 32 players on this list, 24 played under Mike Elko when he was A&M’s defensive coordinator or head coach. (Another four are going to the Hall of Fame, so there’s that too.)

But a lot of these guys aren’t just getting drafted; they’re making money right out of the gate. In this last draft, the Aggies had one first rounder, three second rounders and three third rounders taken. Of the rest of Elko’s “guys” — I’ll only count players on defense from the Jimbo era — a lot of them did really well too.

Scourton, second round

Cooper, second round

Stewart, first round

Turner, third round

Brown, third round

Johnson, fifth round

Clemons, fourth round

Jones, UDFA

I also think there’s a good chance Demani Richardson, Tyrel Dodson and McKinnley Jackson pop up on NFL rosters again shortly. Those are three more Elko guys. Actually, Dodson signed with the Panthers practice squad today. Tight end Tre Watson signed with the Dolphins practice squad. EJ Smith is on injured reserve with the Chiefs, so it’s now 33 players on NFL rosters.

I think that, with the success A&M had last year and the number of players Elko has had a direct impact in help get to the pros — and stick — the Aggies have a solid sales pitch for the nation’s elite prospects.

Let there be war

Right now, LSU gets to play with all its toys. It has a temporary restraining order preventing the SEC from dropping the hammer on them for using players that are otherwise ineligible. The football team has had two — including one of its tagbacks — practicing and preparing to play against Clemson Saturday. Considering two of the players signed by LSU were formerly at Ole Miss, that violates another by-law: inter-conference transfers outside the portal window.

The rest of the conference sees LSU as a bunch of dirty cheaters. LSU, from its coaches to its leadership, have basically told the SEC, “What are you gonna do about it?”

The first thing the conference will do is challenge the TRO later this week — on Thursday, to be precise. So this deal could come down to the wire and, once the first kickoff occurs, rosters are frozen. LSU wants these guys declared eligible now. The rest of the SEC wants LSU to go to hell.

But the other 15 members of the league want blood. There’s a belief — that I agree with — that LSU has flaunted the rules and insulted the intelligence of the other members of the conference. But I thought it would blow over.

Well, it’s not.

There are reports out today that the other schools — not the conference leadership itself — want to hit back hard. Maybe kick them out of the conference hard.

That would be extraordinary, to be sure, but LSU has seriously pissed off everyone with their attitude. Yes, they sucked in everything last year, but they’ve already spent an ungodly amount of money on the football program on eligible players. The other programs consider that to be classless and shameless.

There are three programs who really ought to shut up at sit in the corner: Texas, Ole Miss and South Carolina. The latter two tried to sign one of the former Ole Miss players that came back from the pros, tight end Dae’Quan Wright. Texas brought back Cole Hutson, who took part in NFL tryout camps. But that still leaves 11 teams who rightfully want to go Hulk smash — and, in this case, they’ll make peace with the lesser cheaters to take the legs out from the lead punk.

The SEC leadership, including Commissioner Greg Sankey, aren’t happy with the current situation. The 15 other schools are flat livid. It’s not just that LSU isn’t abiding by the rules, they’re openly flaunting it and daring someone to stop them. So do it. Kick ’em out. If the bully sits there and dares you to hit them, eventually you have to sock them in the jaw. In my estimation, that time has come.

For the sake of college sports, the LSUs of the world need to be crushed underfoot. If there’s going to be anything differentiating college sports from the minor leagues of the pros — especially in football — then you can’t have players bouncing back and forth from the pros to college like a ping pong ball. LSU supports argue that this is a one-time deal caused by 5 for 5 and they should just be allowed to do whatever.

Yeah, right. And sharks won’t attack twice if there’s blood in the water. If LSU wins here, they’ll find other ways to use the Louisiana judicial system in its favor. Count on it.

And anyway, some people wake up and just want to watch the world burn. If LSU’s on fire, count me in.

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