Texas A&M opened preseason all-SEC season with a pretty clear message: the respect is not there yet.
When the conference’s preseason teams dropped, Mario Craver was the only Aggie to land on the first team, and even that came in the “all-purpose” slot. Texas A&M did get a few more names onto the board, but the top tier was thin. Mark Nabou earned second-team honors at center, while DJ Hicks and Terry Bussey were placed on the third team, giving the Aggies four total selections across the three squads.
That’s a modest haul for a team being projected where Texas A&M is being projected. LSU, which was picked to finish behind the Aggies, landed five first-team selections and nine players overall. The gap is hard to miss.
The bigger picture is that Texas A&M has already seen this movie before. The Aggies had just one preseason all-SEC first-team selection for 2025, then finished the year with four. So while the early list doesn’t flatter the roster much, it also sets up the same familiar test: prove it on the field, then watch the honors catch up later.
There were plenty of names that could have pushed the Aggies’ total higher. Isaiah Horton is one of the biggest omissions, especially after the season he put together last year. Dezz Ricks also looked like a player who deserved more recognition; he had a strong year in 2025, even if cornerback awards often lean toward hype or interceptions, and he had neither because he was busy shutting down his side of the field.
Dalton Brooks could have found his way onto one of the teams as well. The Aggie senior and captain is headed into what should be a big season, and he brings one of the most physical games at safety in the conference.
Daymion Sanford is another name that stands out. Without the injury, he would have been a strong candidate for one of these spots after the kind of production he delivered in a backup role last year. If he gets back soon, he could still force his way onto the list by season’s end.
Texas A&M’s transfer group also has players who could make noise once the season starts, even if they were quiet at their previous stops. Anto Saka is the headliner there, with the kind of upside that could put him on a day one NFL track. Rickey Gibson and Tawfiq Byard fit that same mold on the defensive side.
For now, though, the preseason list says what it says: Texas A&M has to earn more of the conference’s attention the hard way. The talent is there. The question is whether the Aggies will turn that into the kind of season that makes these omissions look foolish by December.
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