For a quarterback to succeed, he’ll need the complete backing of his head coach, which has been the case throughout the offseason for Texas A&M coach Mike Elko and redshirt sophomore QB Marcel Reed, who enter one of the more pivotal seasons with plenty to prove after last season’s 8-5 finish.
After trading starts with Conner Weigman, who has since transferred to Houston, Reed struggled as a pocket passer in several games. At the same time, the national media focused primarily on the Texas loss, where the Tennessee native threw for just 146 yards and an interception against an elite Longhorn secondary that is expected to be even better this season.
Most of the criticisms have been overblown, especially considering the lack of receiving talent around Reed, while the star running back Le’Veon Moss’s season-ending injury virtually destroyed the Aggies’ offensive momentum, forcing Reed to become a pocket passer.
This summer, Reed has put in the work, focused on improving his touch, timing, and deep ball accuracy, and based on what Elko and several of his teammates have stated during the preseason, the dual-threat signal caller is poised to take the next step after throwing for 1,864 yards and 15 touchdowns, combined with 547 yards and seven rushing scores.
On Wednesday, during the first SEC weekly Zoom conference of the year, Mike Elko continued to praise his starting QB ahead of Saturday night’s season opener vs. UTSA.
“I think he understands what it takes to be a quarterback in the conference and this league and you’ll start to see the star that he is.”
Marcel Reed’s SEC experience, especially on the road in some of the more challenging environments, is often underrated when predicting his future performances, given his ability to lead his team in crunch time. Again, we can only judge what we see, but it’s becoming increasingly complex to doubt Reed’s ability to lead the Aggies from now on.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M HC Mike Elko believes we’ll witness the ‘star’ that QB Marcel Reed is
Reporting by Cameron Ohnysty, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
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