Texas A&M’s new-look defensive front has a fresh face drawing attention, and Anto Saka wasted no time making his case.
After the Aggies’ sixth preseason practice Wednesday afternoon, the Northwestern transfer spoke to the media for the first time this preseason and singled out strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt for the transformation he has seen. Moffitt has reshaped Texas A&M’s roster into one of the more physical groups in the country, and Saka is one of the clearest examples of that change.
The edge rusher’s profile already looks the part of a future NFL pass rusher. At 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, he is expected to start at defensive end for Texas A&M and fit alongside a rebuilt front that includes rising sophomore Jack Marco Jones, senior defensive tackle DJ Hicks, North Carolina transfer nose tackle CJ Mims and senior defensive end T.J.
Searcy. That group gives third-year coach Mike Elko a defensive line he’ll lean on heavily to anchor the 2026 defense.
Saka’s path from a little-known Northwestern pass rusher to a possible first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft has picked up serious momentum. He landed on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List for the second time in his career, and the numbers back up the buzz: a 370-pound bench press, 565 squat, 345 power clean and a top speed of 21.9 MPH.
His production also points to a player still on the rise. Saka had just 3.5 sacks in his final season at Northwestern, but his 30 pressures stood out as a more telling sign of what he can bring.
For Aggies fans, that’s an encouraging detail after Cashius Howell led the SEC with 11.5 sacks last season and earned unanimous All-American status. Moffitt’s influence has been central to that kind of physical jump, and Saka is only the latest transfer to benefit from it.
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