A closer look at the Texas A&M defense

The UCLA offense’s toughest test of the season might just come in its first game, as it faces off against a loaded Texas A&M defense.

Most of the key players return from last year’s unit, which ranked second in the nation against the pass in Football Outsiders’ situational “plus” ratings behind only Alabama.

That success was fueled primarily by an explosive pass rush that sacked the quarterback on 12 percent of passing downs, according to Football Outsiders.

[Full preview: UCLA prepares for rare SEC matchup to start season]

Against the rush however, the Aggies’ subpar linebacking corps was somewhat exposed, as they rated just 82nd in the nation at stopping the run.

Here’s a unit-by-unit breakdown of the Texas A&M defense.

Defensive Line

It all starts with Myles Garrett for the Texas A&M defense.

Rarely does one player have as significant of an effect on a team’s defense as Garrett does on the Aggies’.

NFL.com named the junior defensive end the most freakish athlete and the best pass rusher in college football, both for good reason.

At 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds with a recorded 40-yard-dash time of 4.46 seconds, the 20-year-old has piled up 24 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss over his first two seasons in College Station, often while facing double and triple teams.

His go-to move – if you can even call it a move – is to explode upfield before the offensive tackle can get into his stance, then rip his left arm upward to turn the corner and get after the quarterback.

Have a look – it’s pretty terrifying. Once he’s around the edge, he can use his speed to chase down the ball. Most quarterbacks aren’t used to massive defensive ends moving as fast as Garrett does.

Though he’s at his best when using his speed around the edge as a pass rusher, Garrett also has the strength and arm length to make his presence felt in the run game. Here, he demolishes Arizona State left tackle Evan Goodman so badly that any other blocking is rendered moot.

Garrett will certainly put UCLA senior left tackle Conor McDermott to the test. A strong showing against the Aggie star could do wonders for McDermott’s already-high draft stock.

As good as McDermott is, the Bruins will have to throw at least some double-teams at Garrett. Letting McDermott go one-on-one for a full 60 minutes is asking for trouble from a guy in Garrett who routinely makes game-changing plays.

Garrett is far from the only talented defensive lineman on the Aggies’ roster. In fact, the group ranked fourth in the nation on Pro Football Focus’s preseason list of the top returning units in college football.

Senior end Daeshon Hall – who stands at 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds – showed flashes of dominance last year, posting four sacks and two forced fumbles in A&M’s season opener against Arizona State.

[Read more: DB Sports’ Q&A with The Battalion – Texas A&M’s student newspaper]

With Garrett and Hall attacking off the edges, the Bruins will need their running game to get going in order to slow down the Aggies’ pass rush. Unfortunately for UCLA, Texas A&M boasts one of the nation’s best run stoppers in sophomore defensive tackle Daylon Mack.

A five-star recruit, Mack served as a backup last season but stood out in the run game, racking up 9.5 tackles for loss. As a true freshman, the 6-foot-1, 310-pound Mack produced the third-best run-defense grade in the nation among defensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.

PFF named Mack the best run stuffer in the SEC in its preseason superlatives list. Look how quick he is at exploding through the interior of the offensive line.

Mack is slated to start this year, which should help against opposing ground games. Though they were lackluster overall against the run last year, the Aggies were one of the nation’s best in short-yardage run defense – the type of situations in which Mack entered the lineup. They were one of the nation’s worst run defenses on passing downs, for which Mack was largely on the sidelines.

Linebackers

Even with Mack on the field more, the linebackers will have to show improvement if the Aggies are to hold up better against the run. Last year, much of the damage against them came after the line of scrimmage. They ranked in the top 25 at stuffing rushers behind the line, but in the bottom 25 at preventing carries of five yards or more.

It will help that redshirt sophomore middle linebacker Otaro Alaka is back after missing most of last season with elbow and labrum injuries. Alaka, who was named the Liberty Bowl Defensive MVP as a freshman in 2014, was strong against the run in his limited action last year.

Sophomore strongside linebacker Richard Moore also looked good after entering the lineup in Week 7 last season, posting the SEC’s second-best run stop percentage among strongside linebackers, according to PFF.

Secondary

Because of the immense talent of guys like Garrett and Hall, the Aggies are able to shift into nickel looks and still hold their own in the box. They like to use both 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 packages to get an extra DB on the field.

Josh Rosen may run into the most trouble against these three-man fronts because A&M can present him with disguised blitzes or maintain its pass rush with three-man pressure from its spectacular linemen, all while keeping five solid defensive backs on the field.

The secondary is led by an imposing pair of safeties in senior Justin Evans and junior Armani Watts.

Evans is a powerful 6-foot-1 strong safety with solid speed, while Watts is a rangy free safety with excellent tackling skills. Watts piled up a team-high 126 tackles last season, partly because the team’s linebackers struggled and partly because he’s exceptional at finding the ball. For a hard-hitting safety, he plays under control and knows when to break down before wrapping up a ball-carrier – watch what he does here against Ole Miss.

Junior Donovan Wilson, who picked off four passes last season and graded well according to PFF, will start at nickelback with an unproven pair – junior Nick Harvey and UCLA transfer Priest Willis – on the edges.

As a group, the team’s defensive backs are strong, but when given the help of the vaunted Aggie pass rush, they look like one of the nation’s top secondaries.