Garrett expecting improvement heading into junior season
During his career as a high school player, Myles Garrett flew up the Rivals.com rankings all way until the very end, finishing as the No. 2 overall player in the Class of 2014. And while he didn’t end up overtaking Da’Shawn Hand for the country’s top player, he continues to be in the discussion as one of college football’s top overall talents.
On Tuesday at SEC Media Days, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin, who said he thinks Garrett is one of the most unique players in the country, praised him while addressing the media from the main stage.
“Obviously everybody here knows he’s one of the best players in the country,” Sumlin said. “Here's a guy who's phenomenally strong, extremely flexible, powerful, understands, has a better understanding of the game now than he's had beforehand.”
But while Garrett has put up incredible numbers during his first two years in College Station, including 22.5 sacks and 32 tackles for loss, Sumlin said he thinks he has even better days ahead.
“He’s in his third year looking to be the guy that he was last year and more,” Sumlin said. “He's had an exceptional career so far, and we look to continue down that road.”
Garrett, who was praised by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey during his opening remarks on Monday for his off-field interests, deflected praise and said he’s focused on being even better in 2016, mainly because he’s been healthy for an entire calendar year.
“I had a good year under my belt where I didn’t have any real injuries so I have a good strength and conditioning under my belt. I can get another fall camp in and I can improve during that and hopefully get better to go against great opponents.”
Garrett, who is the leader of the Aggies defense, said the arrival of Oklahoma transfer quarterback Trevor Knight should also help relieve some of the pressure the team’s defense faced in 2015.
“Trevor has already proven himself,” Garrett said. “He can play at a high level and he’s beaten the best, which is right now, Alabama, what they have done. Last year, they won the championship. He has shown that he can play with anybody and showed that he is a great person as well as a great leader from this year and what he has done this summer. We’re going to try to follow it and we’re going to need him.”
