25 Players in 25 Days: #13 DJ Hicks

Position: Defensive Tackle
Classification: Junior
Hometown: Katy, TX
Listed Height: 6-3
Listed Weight: 295 lbs.

Key notes from Olin’s thoughts on Hicks

• We’re counting on DJ Hicks to have that breakout year now that he will be a full-time starter. He was a five-star when he got here, so he should be wearing #5.
   
• He’s a great talent. He has explosiveness. We’ve seen the flashes of what he can be. Texas A&M has been pretty good at defensive tackle, so he hasn’t played as much. You see the flashes, and now, he projects to be a full-time starter. This could be the year he just bursts out.
   
• If Hicks fulfills his potential, he’s an all-conference guy. Obviously, I wonder what the message was that Mike Elko sent on what they need to do differently because he looks different.
   
• We always talk about quarterbacks and big-play receivers... If you win the SEC championship, I guarantee you that you have an absolute stud defensive interior lineman. I’m going way back to LSU with Glenn Dorsey and Ricky Jean Francois... All those Alabama teams… When Auburn was really good, they had Nick Fairley... Go back, and I guarantee you that if you’re good in the SEC, if not dominant, you have really good defensive tackles.
   
• Look, Hicks having 30 tackles in a year is a really good total for an interior lineman. What they do is get in there and take up blockers so Taurean York can go get them.
   
• Again, this could be the year it all pays off if Hicks reaches the potential that coach Elko was talking about. He could be as dominant as any player mentioned before.
   
• I don’t want to bring up the individuals, but Texas had some guys last year who were OK for years, but then they emerged and became pretty high draft picks. It’s probably predictable to see the same out of Hicks this year.

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