Mike Elko Praises 'First Class' Texas A&M Defensive Line

The Texas A&M Aggies defensive line has been arguably its best position group through four weeks.

Aug 31, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Cashius Howell (18) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Texas A&M Aggies have not been the perfect team on the field in 2024, but there is one position group that has made all the difference in their success.

The defensive line.

Through the first four weeks of the season, the defensive line has been arguably the best group on the team.

And while the stat book might not back that up in terms of sacks or tackles for loss, Aggies head coach Mike Elko has seen immense value in the way his line is impacting games on a weekly basis.

“I think (as a group) our defensive line gets a lot of attention," Elko said. "The most popular protection that we get right now is a double-team chip on one end, a double-team chip on the other end and a double-team on (Shemar Turner). When people are back there, I know the sack numbers aren't really high right now, but offenses are paying an awful lot of attention to that. So it's either a lot of people blocking to throw the ball down the field at all, or getting the ball out of your hand as quickly as possible."

One of the reasons that the defensive line is able to be so impactful, is the depth. On the depth chart, there is only room for four starters to be listed each and every week.

But for the Aggies, with Shemar Turner, Cashius Howell, Shemar Stewart, Nic Scourton, Alber Regis, DJ Hicks, Malick Sylla, Gabriel Brownlow-Dindly, Rylan Kennedy and more, there is no shortage of playmakers in the trenches.

And for Elko, that is invaluable.

"We don’t look at it like we have four starters on the defensive line. We look at it like we have six, and in someways seven," Elko said Wednesday night. “We feel like in order to make it through a game, let alone a season, to rotate those guys to keep them fresh and keep them healthy is really important. One of my biggest challenges every week is, you get 20 first-class seats when you fly and you're trying to figure out which 20 guys to put into it. A lot of times there is like six or seven defensive linemen that you want to reward because they're big bodies. But yeah, we operate in our organization like we have more than four D-line starters for sure. ”

The Aggies will put that defensive line to the test in a big way this weekend when they meet the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Southwest Classic on Saturday in Arlington.

Heading into the game, the Razorbacks rank No. 16 in the nation in rushing, averaging 240 yards per game on the ground, while the Aggies sit at No. 62 in the nation in defending the run.

Not to mention, the Aggies have not come close to facing a quarterback with the rushing ability of Taylen Green as of yet.

In other words, it could be a major challenge.

"It's a challenge," Elko said of defending Arkansas' running game. "When they have dual threats in the backfield, it makes it harder... The biggest thing, like always, is we have to win the line of scrimmage. Our defensive line has to control the line of scrimmage, and then we have to be good tacklers.”

Texas A&M and Arkansas kick off at 2:30 pm CT on ESPN.