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Texas A&M Football: Season Rewind - Shaan Washginton
The Texas A&M football team benefited greatly this year from the leadership of senior Shaan Washington.
Washington led the team with 93 tackles and two forced fumbles. He had six tackles for a loss, two sacks, and was also credited with six passes defended.
According to Pro Football Focus, Washington was the third highest graded defender in 2016. He also led the team in defensive stops with 34. That was six more than the next Aggie defender, Otaro Alaka, and nine more than the third highest defender, Myles Garrett.
The Aggies didn’t have the most depth at linebacker this year. Jordan Mastrogiovanni and Darian Claiborne are both no longer with the team.
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Those holes, combined with the tenacity of nickelback Donovan Wilson played a part in defensive coordinator John Chavis’ reliance on a 4-2-5 defensive alignment this year. More often that not, Washington was one of those two linebackers on the field.
When he was on the field, the 6’3″ Alexandria, Louisiana native was productive. Washington was the only linebacker to rank among the top five solo tacklers on the team, edging out Wilson and safety Armani Watts.
Tackling was a struggle for this team down the stretch. Losing a player of Washington’s caliber is not going to do them any favors.
Washington likely isn’t going to be a first day pick in the upcoming NFL draft. He has an outside shot at going on day two. He’s more likely to be somewhere around a late round pick or an undrafted free agent signing. Drafted or not, Washington is going to be in camp with someone next year.
In 2017 it will likely be Richard Moore, Dwaine Thomas, and freshman Anthony Hines that see a bump in playing time to fill Washington’s role.
***Stats from Sports Reference, ESPN***
