SEC Football: Each team’s most impactful newcomer heading into 2023 season

Texas A&M Aggies

RB Rueben Owens (Five-Star recruit out of TX)

It can be tough for a Freshman running back to come in and be the #1 guy for an SEC program, but that seems like it’ll be the case for Five-Star Freshman Rueben Owens. With Devon Achane (who dominated carries last year for the Aggies) off to the NFL, the door is wide-open in the backfield in College Station. Owens comes in as a near-consensus top 3 RB in the class of 2023, and was ranked first at the position by Rivals.

Owens has track & field speed, and put up a ton of production at El Campo High School in Texas. While we’ll have to wait and see whether Owens can step in and give A&M what Achane gave them (196 carries, 1,102 rushing yards, 36 receptions, 196 receiving yards, and 11 total TD’s in 2022), I believe Owens will be one of the best Freshman in the conference and will be A&M’s #1 back.

Vanderbilt Commodores

LB Prince Kollie (Transfer from Notre Dame) and LB Aeneas DiCosmo (Transfer from Stanford)

A pair of transfer linebackers are both expected to come in and be key contributors on defense for Vanderbilt. DiCosmo and Kollie are both older players coming from two other Power Five programs, even if they were not necessarily able to carve out consistent starting roles.

Kollie comes to Vandy after two seasons at Notre Dame in which he had 33 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, and a blocked punt combined across 23 career games (played all 13 games this past season). Kollie missed Vanderbilt’s Week 0 game against Hawaii due to injury, and is week-to-week moving forward.

DiCosmo played in 28 games across four seasons at Stanford, but his best season came this past year in 2022 as he played in every game while registering 26 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, and 1 PBU. If the Dores are able to make a bowl game this season, DiCosmo and Kollie will be likely be a key part of it.