The Aggies were one of the earliest offers for the 4-star defensive tackle and made an strong impression on him. He narrowed his list down to five schools -- A&M, Michigan, Oregon, Florida State and Florida -- in March before making his final choice today. The Aggies topped a number of other major national names in landing Vaka, including LSU, Tennessee, Nebraska and Mississippi State.

Vaka's commitment also reinforces the reality that A&M is now truly a national power in recruiting capable of grabbing players from anywhere in the country. Just days after grabbing defensive commits from Brooklyn and Charlotte, N.C., they added a third from the suburbs of Los Angeles.

There's not much doubt about what role the Aggies have planned for Vaka. He's going to be asked to follow in the footsteps of Daylon Mack and Bobby Brown (and Isaiah Raikes, for that matter) and be the defensive tackle that takes on double teams and clogs up the middle. And he's definitely got the size and strength to do it.

Vaka is listed at 305 pounds, but I think he's playing at closer to 325. That puts him at about Brown's playing weight as a sophomore in college. And good luck moving him, especially one-on-one. It's almost amusing to see opposing offensive linemen try to drive block him and he just goes nowhere. His lower body strength is too much for opposing interior linemen, and he can push them back at will. There's even one play where he simply throws the opposing blocker to the ground.

I was surprised at Vaka's lateral movement and quickness off the ball. There are a couple of plays where he is being blocked -- in one instance, doubled -- and is still able to move down a gap to make a tackle on the running back. He also makes a really nice play on the goal line where he slants in between the guard and center to stop the back right at the line.

Vaka will probably need to tone up and work on his endurance when he gets to the collegiate level, but the really good news is that A&M has developed enough depth in the middle that he won't have to play unless he really is ready as a freshman and outclasses the competition. One way or the other, though, getting a guy who has the strength to hold up in the middle against elite competition isn't easy to come by, and Vaka looks like he can do just that.