Aggies sign speedy defender Rylan Kennedy
Texas A&M has signed Mansfield Lake Ridge's Rylan Kennedy, who went from off the radar to one of the hottest prospects in Texas in the span of a couple of months.
2022 stats: 61 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5 sacks
Chose A&M over: Texas, Washington, Auburn and USC
Kennedy, who had been involved in basketball and track but had very little involvement in football before this season, blew scouts away with his performance this year. His speed and playmaking abilities took him a non-factor to picking up seven offers, taking an official visit and committing all in the span of 36 days.
Projected 2023 role; Backup outside linebacker
Film study
Well, I can see why Kennedy drew a ton of interest over the past six weeks. The guy has athleticism to burn.
He's not only a versatile football player, but he plays basketball and he's a high-jumper in the spring. The quickness from hoops and the burst from the high jump are both on display in his football highlights.
When he's a defensive end, he gets out of his stance quickly and has a nasty inside move to get past offensive tackles. When he's standing up, he looks like he's shot out of a cannon.
He has good, but not great, speed, but he's still fast enough to track down running backs from behind. He has excellent natural anticipation and instinctively finds the holes a running back is looking for.
And he does't take chances when it comes to tackling. He wraps up and, when he gets a chance, will put a lick on someone.
I like this addition, and I think I like Kennedy more as a linebacker than a defensive end. He shows that he can cover a lot of ground, can tackle and is at his best standing up. As an end, I'd like to see some secondary moves to go with that nasty inside first step. In any case, I don't think he's maxed out his potential yet. A&M could get a lot more out of him and this could just be the start.