Anto Saka Credits Texas A&M's Secret Weapon for Earning 'Freak' Status

He hasn’t been in College Station for long, but defensive end Anto Saka is already giving credit to Texas A&M strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt.

Just a day after he was announced as one of college football’s biggest “freaks,” unveiled by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, Saka didn’t take the moment to talk about himself.

“Yeah, Coach Moffitt has been the greatest,” Saka said of the ranking. “One thing that I noticed that we're a real big Olympic lifting type program, real big on power output, power output, and explosiveness, and that's done wonders for me. All my numbers have skyrocketed. Probably on all my major lifts, at least 40 pounds. So they have a science here, and it works.”

Feldman’s annual “college football freaks list” unveiled on Tuesday and for the second straight year, included the Northwestern transfer. Saka jumped in the rankings from No. 56 to nearly inside the top-30 at No. 31.

“The former high school sprinter, who had 12 sacks and three forced fumbles in the past three seasons combined at Northwestern, showed off his speed in College Station, clocking 21.9 mph on the GPS,” Feldman writes. “Now, at 254 pounds with just 8.2 percent body fat, Saka is very strong. He bench-pressed 370, cleaned 345 and squatted 565 this summer. Saka is the freakiest of a very gifted D-line room.”

Since arriving at Texas A&M via the transfer portal this offseason, he added frame to his already NFL-sized frame. Per Feldman, he put on 15 pounds this offseason, which seemingly didn’t affect his testing numbers at Texas A&M.

Physical gifts do not always translate to on-field success, especially in the NFL. It is, however, always a baseline for scouts and coaches to project from. At 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, he already possesses the size and frame to play as a traditional edge rusher in the SEC.

Entering a Texas A&M defensive line room that is looking to replace sack leader and Day 2 NFL Draft pick Cashius Howell, Saka is one of the players the Aggies are betting on. He brings three years of experience at Northwestern, where, in each of those seasons, he recorded at least four sacks.

He’s proven productive facing Big Ten competition, but now he must take it up another level. In College Station, he will find himself as a leader of a defensive line room that doesn’t return a starter who recorded more than three sacks a year ago.

In a Mike Elko defense that thrives on its ability to rush the quarterback, especially in key passing-down situations where the Aggies thrive with pressure. They need a bona fide pass-rusher they can count to command respect from opposing offenses.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google