SEC 50 Players In 50 Days: Sean Porter

We roll on with our Rant Sports SEC 50 Players in 50 Days preview, as we are well into the first week of fall camp and teams will be in full pads starting this week.  Today, we’ll jump back to the defensive side of the football and take a look at Texas A&M linebacker Sean Porter.

Sean Porter, LB, Texas A&M:

Porter will be a key cog in A&M’s first year in the SEC.  Coach Kevin Sumlin will rely on him to lead a defense that only returns five starters.  The Aggies will have to replace defensive end Tony Jerod-Eddie and cornerback Coryell Judie. Two dynamic players off a 2011 defense that finished ranked 59th in the country. Although not a great ranking, A&M did lead the Big 12 in sacks in 2011 with 51, finishing with 11 more than Oklahoma and with 21 more than anyone else in the league.

Porter was steady in 2011, as he recorded 79 tackles and had 9.5 sacks, which led the Big 12 and was good for 16th nationally.  Of the 79 tackles, 17 were for loss which tied for third in the conference.  He has seen action in 39 games over his career and has been a staple of the Aggie defense since his freshman year, when he played in 13 games, starting two.

Moving forward to 2012 and the Aggies move to the SEC, Porter will team with defensive end Damontre Moore to give them two solid players in the front seven.  Unfortunately for defensive coordinator Mark Snyder, his current depth chart is just plain thin along the defensive front.  The Aggies do get a break in the schedule, if you can call playing in the SEC West a break.  They get Florida, Arkansas, LSU and Missouri inside the friendly confines of Kyle Field, but must travel to Auburn, Mississippi State and Alabama.  Throw in non-conference tilts on the road at Louisiana Tech and at SMU, and you start to see why it could be somewhat of a tough year for the Aggies.