How do you feel about the 2023 football season, eight games through the regular season? Me?… I’m in the “meh” stage of what has become the standard of a Jimbo Fisher-led team in Bryan-College Station. Excluding the outlier year in 2022, I’ve come to expect an eight-win season and a bowl-game win, giving me something to look forward to in the next season.
Even within the ups and downs of this year, the talented defensive line full of blue-chip talent is coming into its own, creating opportunities for the linebackers to run and hit. Aggie defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin has also been mixing it up with blitzes from the secondary and linebacker, putting a load of stress on opposing quarterbacks, and ranking them among the top units in the country.
Despite how impressive the front seven are playing, we may forget about the elephant in the room, which is coverage. Two or three games into last season, it appeared that Denver Harris and Tyreek Chappell would be a formidable duo to throw the ball against this season. Fast forward a year, and Harris is no longer with the program, and Chappell is moving around while the staff is rotating a few other cornerbacks as they try to find the best combination.
Without being able to watch practices, I have no idea how everyone looks and what goes into the game-day decisions. So, we have to do what we do best and speculate on what we can find. There are some opinions that transfer Sam McCall and freshman Jayvon Thomas need to see the field a little bit more.
Ole Miss may not be the game to jump down the depth chart for the cornerback position, but I am curious how some of these other CBs will fare against SEC competition. I’d now play Chappell, Harmon, and DeBerry at the nickel position. Then, a rotation that included the two mentioned in the paragraph above and sophomore Bobby Taylor.
Whatever the decision may be, Lane Kiffin will be bringing in a high pace offense and a mobile quarterback that can put stress on a defense. The secondary will have to be on their game to help take away that first read, allowing the pass rush to cook.
The Aggie defense is the top-ranked defense in the SEC and a top-ten defense in the nation. If the secondary can find their groove, they can quickly move into the top five in the country and help quite some of the de-commit chatter around the team if they can win out and look good doing it.
Texas A&M and Ole Miss will kick off from inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 11:00 a.m. CT and will air on ESPN.
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