Jimbo Fisher details the strength of Texas A&M pass rushers

Texas A&M’s defense is one of the best in the SEC. Jimbo Fisher’s group is third in the league in total defense, thanks in large part to the pass rushers.

The Aggies are allowing 317.8 yards per game and just 14.7 points per game — second only to Georgia in the SEC rankings. Pass rushers Tyree Johnson and DeMarvin Leal are two huge parts of that success. Johnson is third in the SEC with eight sacks and Leal is tied for ninth with 5.5.

Fisher talked about the duo’s impact in his weekly press conference earlier this week.

“They’re learning [and] getting confident,” Fisher told reporters. “I think our guys are getting better in their technique and Tyree’s one of those guys I talk about can get to that edge and bend. He can sink those hips, he can turn that corner, he can turn speed to power and he can keep good leverage and balance, and that’s a talent now.

“Lower-body flexibility, man. We talk about all these muscles and all this big stuff, but you’ve got to have lower-body flexibility … to be able sink and play with power. Football is a low-to-high game. You can draw it up 100 different ways. It’s low-to-high power. You can bench press all you want. You can’t create from those legs and hips? It doesn’t matter.”

Texas A&M takes on Ole Miss Saturday — and Rebels coach Lane Kiffin had some high praise for the Aggies’ defense.

Lane Kiffin on Texas A&M: ‘It really looks like when you watch NFL defenses’

Kiffin had nothing but good things to say about Texas A&M’s defense ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

“It really looks like when you watch NFL defenses where basically everybody’s a really good player that looks right,” Kiffin said Monday. “A lot of times you go to play somebody and you can tell right away after a few series, ‘OK, this player shows up as a weakling, or this player’s short, or they’ve got a small D-tackle’ … something like that.

“I was watching [the film] thinking Jimbo [Fisher] figured out coach [Nick] Saban – recruit the best defensive players in the country, get them on your team and it helps you be a really good head coach. That’s what these guys have. Really, really special players that are dominant.”

Looking at Texas A&M’s defense, the Aggies have six different players with 40 tackles or more – led by graduate linebacker Aaron Hansford, who’s registered 64 total tackles, seven tackles-for-loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery through nine games in 2021. Just behind him is sophomore defensive back Antonio Johnson with 58 tackles and five tackles-for-loss.

While holding their opponents to the aforementioned impressive numbers, the way Texas A&M’s defense has performed this year is a big reason why Fisher’s squad is 7-2 overall and 4-2 in SEC play.