Facing the loss of an NFL-bound star, the Aggies are pivoting to a veteran rotation fueled by Northwestern transfer Anto Saka to redefine the program's defensive edge.
Texas A&M doesn't have another Cashius Howell.
Mike Elko might not need one.
Howell left College Station after an All-American season that included 11.5 sacks, leaving the Aggies with the kind of production that isn't supposed to be easy to replace.
So Texas A&M isn't asking one player to do it.
Northwestern transfer Anto Saka has joined T.J. Searcy and Marco Jones in a defensive-end room that could give the Aggies their best chance of replacing Howell's production — depth.
And with Texas A&M approaching its season opener against Missouri State, Saka appears to have made quite an impression on his new coach.
“Maturity. You're bringing in a kid who has played a lot of football … ” Elko said Thursday. “He has integrated into that room. He's another physical kid. We have a really strong, deep group of defensive ends, and he's a big piece of it.”
Saka certainly isn't arriving in College Station without experience.
The Northwestern transfer appeared in 33 games during his Wildcats career, recording 12 sacks before joining the Aggies this offseason. At 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, he also gives Texas A&M another veteran presence on an edge that suddenly had plenty of production to replace.
Saka has the athleticism to make the move even more intriguing.
He earned a spot on Bruce Feldman's annual “Freaks List” this offseason, another indication of the physical tools Elko now gets to work with.
But replacing Howell was never going to be as simple as finding the next Howell.
The former Aggie recorded 11.5 sacks last season before the Cincinnati Bengals selected him early in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. That production is gone.
The players Texas A&M can throw at replacing it aren't.
Jones returns for his sophomore season after appearing in all 13 games as a freshman, while Searcy gives the Aggies another experienced option on the edge. Saka adds 33 games of his own to that rotation.
One player doesn't have to account for 11.5 missing sacks when several are capable of contributing to the solution.
Saka might ultimately become the biggest piece of that equation. He might not.
For Elko, that's sort of the point.
Texas A&M lost one of the best pass rushers in college football.
It may have built a defensive-end room deep enough that finding another one isn't the only way to replace him.
