With Shemar Turner’s return, here’s how Texas A&M’s defensive line should look in 2024
On Tuesday night, Texas A&M’s 2024 football team received the news that star defensive tackle Shemar Turner will return for a final season in College Station, delaying his entry into the NFL Draft. With Turner’s existing return, the Aggies defensive line is borderline elite and deeper than ever.
While A&M, in head coach Jimbo Fisher’s final season, struggled on both sides of the ball, the defensive line finished the season 7th in sacks (42) and 5th in tackles for loss (99), primarily anchored by the consistent player of Shemar Turner was second on the team with six sacks behind linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (8), who will enter the 2024 NFL Draft.
Needing several upgrades after the departures of DT Walter Nolen (transferred to Ole Miss) and EDGE Fadil Diggs (transferred to Syracuse), new head coach Mike Elko quickly utilized the transfer portal, adding veteran defensive line talent including EDGE Cashius Howell (Bowling Green) DT Rodas Johnson (Wisconsin), and most notably, former Purdue EDGE Nic Scourton, a Bryan, Texas native, who lead the Big Ten in sacks (10) during the 2023 season.
With all the new additions paired with the returning talent, here is how the defensive line depth chart currently looks ahead of Elko’s inaugural 2024 season.
Defensive end
(1st Team): JR Shemar Stewart
(2nd Team): JR Enai White
(3rd Team): SO Rylan Kennedy
Nose tackle
(1st Team): RS SO Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy
(2nd Team): RS JR Albert Regis
(3rd Team): RS SR Rodas Johnson
Defensive tackle
(1st Team): SR Shemar Turner
(2nd Team): SO DJ Hicks
(3rd Team): RS SR Rodas Johnson
EDGE
(1st Team): SO Nic Scourton
(2nd Team): RS JR Cashius Howell
(3rd Team): RS SO Enai White ‘
(4th Team): RS FR Malick Sylla
Final thoughts
Shemar Turner’s return to the Aggies’ defensive line is not just important due to his quality play but to make every transfer player’s transition that much smoother, having a veteran who has been through every up and down with some familiarity of Mike Elko’s defensive scheme is an absolute steal for a program looking to shock it many detractors.
While Nic Scourton’s arrival after a stellar 2023 campaign certainly leads as one of the more exciting developments this offseason, Turner provides a 1-2 punch as a proven run stopper and feared pass rush among what should be the deepest defensive line rotation in the SEC next season.
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