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Gigem 247's Jeff Tarpley appeared with host Glenn "Stretch" Smith on The Afternoon Stretch via ESPN Central Texas out of Waco to discuss Texas A&M off season coming out of spring ball and into the summer. Smith asked about the status of linebacker Daymion Sanford, who left the spring game with a lower leg injury. Matt Zenitz, who is with 247 Sports, came on our boards the weekend after the spring game and said that Daymion Sanford did indeed suffer a lower leg injury. It was kind of apparent if you were watching the broadcast what happened. Matt said that he had surgery on the Monday after the spring football game. There has been no announcement from the school since then on how much time he will miss or that he would be out for the year. Usually, that means — at least at this point in time — that A&M may think he has a chance to return at some point during the season. In the interim, A&M's going to have to potentially consider finding some way to replace his production and style of play (Sanford had 57 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss in 2025). Ray Coney, who was a transfer from Tulsa, has settled in quite nicely at the Mike Backer in the spring. He can take over that Taurean York role. He has been a green dot guy on defense, he's played a lot of snaps in college football, he's got a lot of experience, and he should be able to handle that responsibility. I think a guy who you really should be looking for who hasn't gotten a lot of game reps is Noah Mikhail. With Sanford being on the field, he might be more like the third or fourth linebacker. But if you want a guy who can replace Sanford from an athletic standpoint in terms of his range and ability to run, Mikail is certainly someone who can do so. He can probably play all three linebacker positions in the defense. He's smart enough to play all of them. He had an interception in the spring game when he read a route, jumped it, picked the ball off, and returned it for a touchdown. He's bigger than he was last year. Mikhail moves very, very well. He's able to make plays all over the place." A&M also has another guy, a third-year player, Jordan Lockhart. He is probably more of a true Mike backer, kind of like Coney, so to speak. He can be a green dot kind of guy. He played a little bit more in the earlier part of last year. Lockhart can get the call and get the defense set. He can read and make plays behind the line of scrimmage, too. I think you're going to see those three guys kind of work in and out of the lineup to replace Sanford, in different combinations of players. Overall, I think it'll be interesting to see whether a guy like Mikhail gets the best chance to take those snaps simply because he might do a better job of replacing what Sanford gives the Aggies, or if the experience of the other two players wins the day.