Bryce Anderson leads the way on the back end
Mike Elko personally coached safeties during his tenure as the defensive coordinator for Texas A&M. Let’s see what he has to work with at that spot this season.
Who did we lose?
The starters at safety last season have all moved on. Demani Richardson was a mainstay at safety for the past five seasons, but he will be suiting up for the Carolina Panthers this season.
Jardin Gilbert, who was lost for the season due to injury early in the year, has since transferred to LSU. His replacement, Jacoby Mathews, entered the during the spring but has yet to find a landing spot.
Who do we bring back?
- Bryce Anderson: The junior played a little safety last season, but took the majority of his snaps at the nickel position. Elko mentioned this spring that Anderson will be a full-time safety this year. Look for him to be a leader of the defense.
- Dalton Brooks: Super athletic true sophomore, 4-star prospect coming out of Shiner, TX. Flashed his ability in the Texas Bowl with an interception off Oklahoma State’s Alan Bowman. Could force his way onto the field at safety or nickel.
- Jared Kerr: Has had a couple of nice moments in big games. He will be in the mix
What other names should we know?
The Aggies hit the transfer portal hard at defensive back and brought in two true safeties. Trey Jones is a fifth-year senior from Central Michigan who was pursued by Georgia. Jones, at 6’2, 215 lbs, is impressive against the run. He figures to play a big role on the A&M defense this year.
Marcus Ratcliffe from San Diego State was the other transfer addition. He’s another big safety at 6’3 210 and started 13 games for the Aztecs as a true freshman last season.
The Aggies did sign a pair of high school safeties in the 2024 recruiting class in Jordan Pride and Myles Davis. Both were composite 4-star prospects, but should have a chance to develop behind some capable veterans.
Overall Grade: B+
This may sound high after last season, but count me in as someone who is pretty high on the A&M secondary as a whole. Bryce Anderson is finally playing his natural position at free safety and could contend for all-conference honors. It will likely come down to Trey Jones or Dalton Brooks for the other starting spot. I could see Jones being your full-time starter at strong safety with Brooks being a “first-off-the-bench” type in the secondary and contributing on obvious passing downs.
The talent is there, and the coaching should be too. I trust Elko and company to use the ingredients at their disposal to cook up a pretty salty back end. In fact, this could be the best safety room that Elko has ever had at A&M. He fielded some nice units in the past, but this is a physical group that could have a little more speed than in years past. The potential is there for this to be an A at the end of the year.
Check out our other position previews to get you prepped for the 2023 season: