Mike Elko believes Texas A&M has its best defensive end combo 'in a long time'

Texas A&M has had a number of great defensive ends over the years, but coach Mike Elko believes the Aggies could have their best duo in recent memory this upcoming season.

Elko would know after spending four years as the A&M defensive coordinator under Jimbo Fisher. He helped the Aggies rank No. 2 in the country in rushing defense in 2020 and is now set to take over the program after spending the past two years as the head coach at Duke.

Following the spring game, Elko made quite the declaration on the combo of returning contributor Shemar Stewart and Purdue transfer Nic Scourton. But it wasn’t just them he was excited about.

“When we line up Nic Scourton on one side and Shemar Stewart on the other, I think we have the best defensive end combo that we’ve had here in a long time,” he said. “Then you start talking about some of the other pieces and what Cashius Howell brings to the table, what Rylan Kennedy brings to the table and what Malick Sylla will bring to the table. You have a lot of talent at that position right now.”

A&M is coming off of a 7-6 finish this past season and ranked as the No. 1 rushing defense in the SEC with just 108.8 ground yards allowed per game. They were also tied for fourth in the country with 3.4 sacks per game.

Stewart is a former five-star prospect who was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team in 2022. He has appeared in 24 games over his first two seasons to record 34 career tackles (5.5 for loss), three sacks and two fumble recoveries, including one returned for a touchdown.

As for Scourton, he played linebacker this past season for the Boilermakers, finishing with 50 tackles (15 for loss) and 10 sacks. The Aggies plan to move him around defensively this season using him as an edge rusher and have been working with him on lining up in a defensive stance in the spring.

“When you just talk specifically about Nick, it’s what you get when you get a veteran player,” Elko said. “He led the Big Ten in sacks last year. That doesn’t happen by accident. He’s played a lot of football. He knows how to go about his business. He’s got a really strong repertoire of pass-rushing games.

“I think we’ve done a really good job of kind of elevating him. He kind of stood on his feet a lot at Purdue and we got him in a stance a lot more this spring to kind of get him adjusted to that. He’ll do a little bit of both for us come fall.”

A&M is set to open the 2024 season with a big test on Aug. 31 against Notre Dame. Scourton and Stewart will look to anchor the defensive line going into that contest and set the tone for a solid start to the Elko era.