Projecting Texas A&M's post-spring 2026 defensive depth chart

Texas A&M's spring season is officially in the rearview mirror after the annual Maroon & White Game on April 18, providing third-year coach Mike Elko and his staff with an early evaluation of how close or far the 2026 roster, now featuring 17 transfer portal additions, is to contending for a second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff. While it's too early to predict how the Aggies will perform this fall, projecting the program's depth chart is an offseason exercise we at Aggies Wire have already started, with the offense projections coming out on Wednesday morning. The return of starting quarterback Marcel Reed will provide first-year offensive coordinator and playcaller Holmon Wiggins a baseline to work with, but four new starting offensive linemen will likely dictate Reed's improvement in the pocket and the offense's overall success.

Still, adding Alabama transfer wide receiver Isaiah Horton, combined with junior WR Mario Craver returning for his second season, should help create one of the better passing attacks. Focusing on the defense, which includes one of the deeper secondaries and an influx of transfer talent along the defensive line, Elko and new defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill will have some major decisions to make this fall. Here is the two-deep defensive depth chart prediction.

Safety Starting free safety: Dalton Brooks Backup FS: Myles Davis Starting strong/boundary safety: Marcus Ratcliffe Backup SS: Tawfiq Byard Freshman additions: Chance Collins, Tylan Wilson Similar to last season, the addition of Colorado transfer Tawfiq Byard will more than likely lead to Mike Elko and Lyle Hemphill deploying a three-headed safety rotation, while Dalton Brooks provides positional versatility, paired with Marcu Ratcliffe thriving as the short side safety, where he and Byard will provide run support in the box on early downs. Depth-wise, Myles Davis looks like the best next option behind Brooks, while Rashad "Tom Tom" Johnson is also versatile and could work his way into the rotation on certain downs. Cornerback and nickel Starting cornerback: Dezz Ricks Backup CB: Adonyss Currie Starting nickel: Jordan Shaw Backup NB: Bryce Anderson Starting cornerback: Julio Humphrey Starting CB: Rickey Gibson III Freshman class: Brandon Arrington, Victor Singelton This newly formed cornerback rotation is not as cut and dry as some may believe, mainly due to Tennessee transfer Rickey Gibson, who entered the rotation after missing all but one game during the 2025 season.

Dezz Ricks is the clear No. 1 option after breaking out last year, while former Georgia transfer Julio Humphrey is reportedly healthy and could easily be the No. 2 corner rep with Gibson and serve as the starter.