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Texas A&M Football: It’s now or never for Daylon Mack

By Matthew Bartlett

COLLEGE STATION, TX - OCTOBER 07: Damien Harris #34 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is stopped by Tyrel Dodson #25 of the Texas A&M Aggies and Daylon Mack #5 at Kyle Field on October 7, 2017 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
COLLEGE STATION, TX - OCTOBER 07: Damien Harris #34 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is stopped by Tyrel Dodson #25 of the Texas A&M Aggies and Daylon Mack #5 at Kyle Field on October 7, 2017 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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Texas A&M football is still waiting on a breakout season from defensive tackle Daylon Mack. Will it finally come in his senior campaign?

The Kevin Sumlin era was far from perfect, but the former Texas A&M football coach never struggled to bring in elite talent. Christian Kirk, Ricky Seals-Jones and Kyler Murray are just a few of the 5-stat talents recruited by Sumlin. Each of them had their ups and downs, but Daylon Mack, another 5-star might be own most perplexing career.

Mack was one of the biggest National Signing Day decisions the Aggies had won in recent history. When he picked up the maroon and white hat there were celebrations all over College Station. Why not? The 6-foot-1, 335-pound defensive tackle was going to line up alongside Myles Garrett and bring back the oft-lauded Wrecking Crew.

Three and a half years later Mack hasn’t quite lived up to the hype. He’s had his moments; more than once he’s tackled the quarterback and the ball carrier in the backfield simultaneously with hits that reverberated around Kyle Field.

Entering his senior season, Mack owns 17 tackles for a loss and 2.5 career sacks. Those are the kinds of numbers that Mack was supposed to put up per season, not spread across three seasons and 34 games.

Mack still looks the part. He’s massive, quick and capable of make the type of splash places that stop drives and win games. He’s stuck in a deep position and will have to fight for playing time with the likes of Justin Madbubuike, JUCO transfer Mohamed Diallo and true freshman Bobby Brown.

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Texas A&M could have one of the best interior defensive lines in the conference If, and that’s a big if at this point, Mack is able to flip the switch. The Aggies will find out if he can soon enough.