Texas A&M Player Profiles: Defensive Lineman, Fadil Diggs

Going into the 2022 football season, Aggies Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Texas A&M roster.

Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for Jimbo Fisher this season.

Fadil Diggs is entering his redshirt sophomore season with an increased workload and high expectations after the loss of starting defensive linemen Micheal Clemons, DeMarvin Leal, Tyree Johnson, and Jayden Peevy who all departed for the NFL. As a top 10 recruit as a weak-side defensive end prospect, and a top 5 player in the state of New Jersey, he was one of the first recruits from New Jersey that Jimbo Fisher and staff set their sights on in the 2020 class, as Texas A&M had been foreign to any east coast based recruiting before the hiring of Fisher in 2018. Before signing with the Aggies on May 4, 2019, Diggs was excelling on the gridiron as a two way player at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, New Jersey, recognized as the 2019 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year during his senior season, with his career stats of 99 tackles, 19 sacks and 5 forced fumbles on defense, and 67 catches for 1,033 yards and 11 touchdowns on offense making him one of the most athletic defensive prospects in the entire 2020 class. After choosing to redshirt during his true freshman season, Diggs appeared in all 12 games during the 2021 season, recording 9 total tackles, 1 sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss as a backup/ rotational defensive end. As summer camp approaches, Fadil Diggs with be looked upon as one of the leaders of a young defensive line group.

Preseason Player Profile

Hometown: East Camden, New Jersey

Height: 6-5

Weight: 250lbs

247Sports Composite Ranking

Class of 2020: 4-Star player ranking, 4th ranked player in New Jersey, 9th ranked defensive lineman in the country

Career Stats

Year	G	Tkl	TFL	Sacks	FF
2020	1	2	0	0	0
2021	12	9	2.5	1	0

PFF Rankings (Team Rankings)

Year	Defense	Pass Rush	Run Defense	Tackling
2020	47.5	56.7	58.2	73.7
2021	64.1	60.7	66.7	80.6

Depth Chart Overview

Fadil Diggs (Redshirt Sophomore) is projected as the starting edge rusher/ defensive end for Texas A&M in the Aggies 4-2-5 defensive scheme, led by the first-year defensive coordinator for the Aggies, D.J. Durkin. Diggs is joined by starting defensive tackle, Shemar Turner (Sophomore), starting nose tackle, McKinnley Jackson (Junior), and potential starting defensive ends, Tunmise Adeleye (Red Shirt Freshman) and Elijah Jeudy (Red Shirt Freshman). As a prospect, Diggs has the modern area frame at 6-5, 250lbs needed at the edge/ outside linebacker position and utilizes his elite athleticism displaying great bend and speed during his pass rush, yet his lack of pass rush moves could hinder him in the future against more experienced offensive tackles. During the spring,  Jimbo Fisher told reporters “Micheal (Clemons) was a guy that set the tempo for our defense… Micheal never took a play off. Fadil Diggs did that for our team this spring.” As expected, Fadil Diggs will look to take the starting edge spot and run with it from the get-go.

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