Texas A&M doesn’t sound worried about the future of its quarterback room, but for now the focus stays squarely on Marcel Reed - and on the version of him the Aggies believe is still coming.
Reed, a redshirt junior entering his second full season as the starter, has spent the offseason sharpening the parts of his game that got exposed in last year’s stretch run. The emphasis has been on cleaner accuracy, better touch and, above all, cutting out the mental errors that helped fuel back-to-back losses to Texas and Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
That work showed up again Monday during Texas A&M’s fifth preseason practice. Reed connected on several eye-catching throws, including one of his best to junior Mario Craver while he was escaping pressure.
It was another sign that the Tennessee native is trending toward his strongest season yet after posting career highs of 3,169 passing yards and 25 touchdowns last year. The number that needs the most trimming is the 12 interceptions.
Around the SEC, Reed is generally viewed as one of the league’s better starters, landing somewhere in the top 10 and ranging from fifth to eighth in different evaluations. But anonymous comments cited by ESPN from SEC coaches kept the same old label attached to him: a high-variance quarterback. In a conference that now includes names like Arch Manning, Gunner Stockton, Trinidad Chambliss and Sam Leavitt, that perception hasn’t gone away.
Mike Elko, now heading into his third season as Texas A&M’s head coach, remains firmly in Reed’s corner.
"His goal is to lead this team to a championship and be an NFL draft pick," Mike Elko stated to ESPN. "He's very, very comfortable with where we're at right now with the scheme stuff. Last offseason, I was dealing with people asking me if he would be able to complete a forward pass, and I tried to convince everyone that he would, and now there's a thought that he's hit his ceiling, but I still think there's a ton of growth for him, and he's committed to doing that."
The concerns from opposing coaches are clear enough. Against top-35 defenses last season, Reed managed only six touchdown passes and threw eight of his 12 interceptions.
Four of those picks came in the losses to Texas and Miami. One SEC defensive coordinator said of Reed’s running ability that "you've got to do a good job of confusing," underscoring how much his legs can alter the way defenses have to play him.
Another defensive coordinator pointed to Reed’s trouble against more complicated zone coverage and strong run defenses. But one more SEC coach offered a description that may matter just as much to Elko and quarterback coach Joey Lynch as they think about the next step.
"He still thinks he's a true quarterback, and we want him to, like, keep thinking that way. He doesn't really want to run, but when he does, it's the scariest part."
If Reed gets back to that dual-threat version of himself, the ripple effect could be significant. It would open things up for Texas A&M’s receivers, force defenses to stay honest and give first-year offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins more room to get creative late in the season.
In Other News...
Texas A&M Linebackers Suddenly Carry A Big Defensive Question
Texas A&Ms fifth preseason practice offered a little bit of everything on both sides of the ball, with quarterback Marcel Reed showing improvement and wide receiver Mario Craver continuing to stand out. The Aggies also brought in 17 transfer portal additions, and one of the more important ones for this fall is linebacker Ray Coney, who arrives with the kind of profile that can help steady a defense still sorting out its identity.
At linebacker, the intrigue is starting to center on how quickly that group comes together after the offseason turnover. Defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill has already expressed confidence in the room, and Daymion Sanford is nearing full strength again after the injury he suffered in the Maroon & White Game. Even with those encouraging signs, the position still carries a big question for Texas A&M as camp unfolds, because the next few practices will go a long way toward showing who can turn promise into production. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M's Texas Tech Decision Says Plenty About SEC Scheduling
Texas A&M has made its scheduling priorities pretty clear by passing on Texas Techs offer to set up a non-conference game in the foreseeable future. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said the Red Raiders have reached out to multiple schools about matchups in 2027 and beyond, and so far the answers have not been encouraging. For the Aggies, the decision fits the broader way SEC teams have been managing their calendars, with outside games carefully chosen around the demands of league play and the need to protect long-term scheduling plans.
Texas A&M already has home-and-home series lined up against Arizona State and Louisville over the next four seasons, which underscores how selective these openings can be. For fans hoping to see old regional ties revived, the Texas Tech pitch would have carried real appeal, but the Aggies refusal suggests they are not eager to add another commitment unless it fits exactly what they want. In the meantime, Tech keeps searching for a partner, and the lack of traction says as much about the current scheduling climate as it does about any one matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M May Have Finally Fixed One Passing Game Problem
Texas A&M spent a good chunk of last season looking for a little more variety in its passing game, and now it appears the Aggies may have added a piece that changes the shape of the room. A transfer receiver is on the way who brings the kind of size this offense has not consistently had, giving the unit a different look to pair with Mario Craver and KC Concepcion.
The addition matters because the new arrival is not just another target, but a player who produced in bigger spots last season and showed he could hold up against major competition. For an Aggies passing attack trying to become more balanced and harder to defend, that mix of size and production could be exactly what it needed. [Read more 🡒]