Texas A&M Football: Why LB Position Will Keep Aggies from Being Elite in 2014

The Texas A&M football team is undefeated and ranked No. 6 in the country. Unfortunately for Aggie fans, the team's deficiencies at the linebacker position will prevent it from taking the next step and becoming a playoff team in 2014. 

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin has again built one of the top offenses in the land. The Aggies are averaging 594.6 yards and 51.2 points per game. The defense is allowing a respectable 376.4 total yards per game. 

The Aggies are currently in the middle of the pack when it comes to defenses in college football, which is a major improvement over 2013, when they had the No. 109 overall defense. The Aggies have improved with better safety play and a much improved defensive line.

The issue for the Aggies is that their linebacker play is still lagging behind. They do not have the size, talent or depth at the linebacker position to help form an elite SEC defense.

Size Does Matter

The Aggies entered the 2014 fall camp with an expected starting lineup of Shaan Washington at strong-side linebacker, Jordan Mastrogiovanni at middle linebacker and Donnie Baggs at weak-side linebacker.

Washington is a 6'3", 235-pound sophomore who has the size and speed needed to be an effective linebacker in the SEC. Unfortunately, he broke his collar bone early in fall camp and was forced to miss the first three games of the season. 

With Washington out, the Aggies opened the season with Baggs at weak-side linebacker, Mastrogiovanni in the middle and A.J. Hilliard on the strong side. Then Hilliard got injured in the season opener against South Carolina. 

Like Washington, the 6'2", 230-pound sophomore had the requisite size to make plays in the SEC. Baggs is a 6'1", 230-pound senior who looks and plays a lot smaller than his listed weight. 

The key to winning games in the SEC is to stop the opponent's running game. Aggie fans have grown tired of watching opposing running backs shake off the tackles of the Aggies' smallish linebackers like Baggs. 

Mastrogiovanni is a 6'3", 244-pound sophomore who has plenty of size and speed. His issue is that he does not possess the instincts to be an effective middle linebacker. In the Aggies' 35-28 overtime win over Arkansas, he often found himself in the wrong place or struggled to get off blocks.

The Razorbacks ran 74 offensive plays against the Aggies including 47 rushing attempts. Mastrogiovanni was in on three assisted tackles for the game. The starting middle linebacker of the Texas A&M defense did not get a single solo tackle against a team that the Aggies knew was going to run the ball.

Baggs put up a similar stat line with three tackles against the Hogs, but he did add a tackle for loss. He will be in the right place at the right time, but he does not possess the size and strength to bring down some of the bigger backs in the SEC. 

The Aggies allowed 285 yards rushing against Arkansas because their linebackers could not get off blocks to make plays. When they did get off blocks, the bigger Arkansas running backs just shrugged off their tackle attempts. 

Washington returned from his injury in Week 4 against SMU. He has tallied 13 tackles with two tackles for loss and two sacks in two games. Washington had seven tackles against Arkansas.

The lack of size and talent will be exacerbated as the Aggies move into the meat of the SEC schedule. The Aggies have games against Mississippi State, Alabama and LSU remaining on their schedule. 

All three teams feature running backs with the size to give the Aggie linebackers problems. The sad reality for Aggies fans is that they have one legitimate SEC linebacker on the squad right now in Washington. 

How To Fix The Problem

The only way to solve this deficiency of talent at the linebacker position is to recruit more talent to Aggieland. The Aggies had huge issues on their defensive line in 2013, but the addition of defensive end Myles Garrett and a few other recruits has given them the depth and talent to be an effective SEC unit. 

The Aggie coaches need to do the same thing at linebacker in the 2015 class that they did on the defensive line in the 2014 class. They need to recruit some of the best linebackers in the nation and hope they come in ready to play. 

The Aggies simply need to get bigger and better at the linebacker position. Getting Hilliard back from injury in 2015 will help. He and Washington at the two outside linebacker spots will be a formidable duo. 

Texas A&M has three linebackers verbally committed in the 2015 class. Two of them, Riley Garner and Landis Durham, should have the size required in 2015 to walk in and help the team. The Aggies need to land elite linebacker recruit Malik Jefferson to give this class the kind of boost that Garrett gave the 2014 class. 

As for the 2014 season, Aggie fans are going to have to hope that true freshman linebackers Josh Walker and Otaro Alaka develop as quickly as possible. It would behoove the Aggie coaches to get them more playing time. 

The freshmen may make youthful mistakes, but they will get better in the future. Watching Walker or Alaka cover the wrong gap will be more beneficial for the future of Aggie football than watching Baggs get run over by another opposing running back. 

The Aggies have the offense, special teams and defensive line to be a championship-level team. They are missing the linebackers, and that will limit their success in 2014.