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A nightmare for opposing quarterbacks and offensive coordinators, Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett is speed off the edge. The 6-foot-5, 262-pound sophomore very well could be some NFL team’s future No. 1 draft pick.
He blows past blockers oftentimes before they are even out of their stance. Pressure off the edge untouched, Garret has been compared to Jadaveon Clowney (South Carolina/Houston Texans) and Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska/Miami Dolphins) as far as impacting the game.
He’s special. With his speed off the edge, Garrett causes opposing offensive coordinators to change their game plan when facing him. Seeing regular double teams and triple teams, most offenses simply choose to operate on the other side of the football field than have to deal with him.
He’s arguably the nation’s most feared pass rusher. Garrett led the SEC this season and was fifth in the nation with 11.5 sacks, and tied for the SEC lead and tied for sixth in the nation with 18.5 tackles for loss. His five forced fumbles led the SEC and ranked second nationally.
Garrett led an Aggies defense that tied for third place nationally averaging 8.5 tackles for loss per game.
He was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week twice this season. The first followed a 30-17 victory over Mississippi State in which Garrett collected seven tackles, including five unassisted. He had two tackles for loss, including one sack, and forced a fumble as the Aggies rolled at Kyle Field to improve to 5-0 and 2-0 in the SEC.
A second SEC DL of the Week honor was earned in Texas A&M’s next game, a 41-23 loss to Alabama. Garrett made five tackles, four solo, and blocked a punt. He recorded two tackles for loss, including one sack.
But he was wreaking havoc long before that. Garrett tied a career-high with 3.5 sacks in the second game of the 2015 season, a 44-27 victory over Nevada. This after it was reported that the Wolfpack schemed for the challenge of facing Garrett by having its scout team line up offsides in practice to simulate Garrett’s quickness.
The breakout game came less than a week since having his wisdom teeth removed.
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He followed up back-to-back SEC DL of the Week performances with seven tackles, including six solo and two for loss in a 23-3 loss at Ole Miss. In addition, Garrett also forced a fumble and intercepted a pass in the game.
Garrett led an Aggies rebound the following week, a 35-28 victory over South Carolina. In that win, Garrett recorded seven tackles, five solo, including two sacks and forced a fumble.
Forcing fumbles became a trademark of Garrett’s aggressive play. He came up just one shy of matching the school record of six, set by three players. Jacob Green, a 2016 Texas Sports Hall of Fam inductee, originally set the mark in 1978. Since then it’s been equaled by both Aaron Wallace (1987) and Dat Nguyen (1996).
A Rotary Lombardi Award and Hendricks Award finalist, and Bednarik Award semifinalist, Garrett closed the 2015 regular season with six tackles (3 solo), including a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, in a 19-7 loss at LSU.
For the season, Garrett piled up 59 tackles, including 37 solo. It was another outstanding season and a solid follow-up to a sensational freshman year. Garrett will enter the 2016 season as one of the top, if not the top, defensive player in the SEC.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
