Early signing '21: Aggies finally sign their first 2022 commit
Malick Sylla has waited longer than any other Texas A&M commit for this day to arrive. The 4-star defensive end from Katy is finally an Aggie.
Height/Weight: 6-foot-6, 235 pounds
Commitment date: Jan. 17, 2021
Chose A&M over: Alabama, Auburn, Texas, LSU and Georgia, among others
Film study
In Sylla, the Aggies got a bigger, taller version of Daeshon Hall -- and he's only starting to scratch the surface of his potential. This young man's upside is tremendous.
Sylla is currently 235 pounds, a size Hall didn't get to until at least his sophomore and probably junior year at A&M. He's got really good awareness and has the intelligence to know when to break off a pass rush because it's either a screen or he's not going to get there, then bats the ball down thanks to his height.
Sylla has a tremendous first step, and that gives him an immediate advantage over opposing linemen. You want to know how he's shooting gaps into the backfield repeatedly? It's because of that first step, where he just explodes out of his stance and his on the linemen before they've been able to set up to block him.
His speed goes beyond his first step. You can see him running down quarterbacks from behind or tracking down running backs. It doesn't look like he's moving all that fast, but when you're 6-foot-6, you cover a lot more ground than the average guy. He's already strong enough to shed many offensive linemen and running backs are essentially wasting their time trying to block him.
With another year of development, Sylla could come in to A&M at 250 pounds easily. That's a big plus, as is the fact that he probably won't be rushed onto the field. He's got the basic building blocks and tremendous athletic ability, but needs to work on some secondary moves to grab the advantage back from SEC offensive linemen who have the quickness to meet him when he tries to go around the corner. Once he gets that handled, he's going to be an absolute beast.