Texas A&M is sending a familiar mix of firepower and defensive backbone to SEC Media Days next week in Tampa.
The Aggies announced Tuesday that redshirt junior quarterback Marcel Reed, senior safety Marcus Ratcliffe and senior linebacker Daymion Sanford will be the team’s player representatives. Third-year coach Mike Elko and all three 2026 team captains are scheduled to speak to the media next Wednesday.
Reed’s selection isn’t much of a surprise. Earlier this month, Aggies Wire projected he would be one of the three players chosen, and he’ll be the first Texas A&M quarterback at the event since Kellen Mond before the 2019 season. Reed’s 2025 season gave the Aggies plenty to point to: he completed 62% of his passes for a career-high 3,169 yards, with 5 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while also adding nearly 500 rushing yards and 6 scores.
Ratcliffe heads into the spotlight after a strong year of his own. He started 12 of 13 games and posted a personal-best 66 tackles, along with three passes defensed and three tackles for loss. He and senior safety Dalton are widely viewed as one of the SEC’s top defensive pairs, and Ratcliffe was graded by Pro Football Focus as the top-rated safety in coverage.
Sanford’s appearance will be the first time the public has heard from him since a lower-body injury in A&M’s Maroon & White Game required offseason surgery. He is expected to miss the first half of the regular season, but he still won the starting job after replacing Scooby Williams. In 13 games with 10 starts, Sanford totaled 57 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.
Texas A&M opens the 2026 season against Missouri State on Saturday, Sept. 5.
In Other News...
Texas A&Ms No. 1 Class Just Got Even More Dangerous
Texas A&Ms 2027 class keeps looking less like a hot streak and more like a full-on recruiting avalanche. The Aggies already sat atop the national rankings, and the addition of another blue-chip defender only deepens a group that now features six five-star commitments and a steady climb for several prospects in the Rivals300. It is the kind of class that gives a program real margin for error, especially when the talent is spread across premium spots and the momentum keeps building.
Mike Elkos staff changes have only added to the sense that this run is being built to last, with Holmon Wiggins taking over as offensive coordinator and Lyle Hemphil stepping in as defensive coordinator after recent departures. Behind the scenes, the Aggies recruiting machine has been humming too, with key staffers helping land more than half the class and others tied to some of the biggest names still shaping the board. The bigger question now is how high this group can climb before signing day, because the way Texas A&M is stacking commitments, the ceiling still feels very much in play. [Read more 🡒]
Rueben Owens Has One Last Chance To Become An Aggie Star
Rueben Owens II has spent his first two seasons at Texas A&M in a supporting role, but the path in front of him looks very different now. With the backfield opening up, Owens is projected to step into the lead job in 2026, giving the Aggies a chance to see whether the former rotational piece can become the kind of feature back that changes the shape of an offense.
There is reason to believe the opportunity is real. Owens handled a career-high workload in 2025 and finished with 639 yards and five touchdowns, production that showed what he can do when the ball is in his hands more often. For Texas A&M, the stakes are bigger than one players breakout, since a strong season from Owens would fit neatly into a larger push to put the Aggies in national championship contention. [Read more 🡒]