It’s hard to say where Texas A&M’s program would be without quarterback Marcel Reed’s rise from unknown backup to star dual-threat playmaker in the span of two seasons, as the Tennessee native took center stage during the 2024 campaign after leading the Aggies back from a 17-7 home defict vs. LSU, rushing for three touchdowns against the Tigers in one of the more exciting comebacks in program history.
After earning the starting job going into the 2025 season, questions regarding Reed’s ability to throw the football were immediately answered from the jump, thanks to transfer wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver combining for nearly 1,900 yards and 13 scores, while Reed threw for a career-high 3,169 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
Reaching 11-0 for the first time since 1993, Marcel Reed vaulted into the Heisman Trophy discussion, but due to his struggles in losses to Texas and Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff, accounting for four turnovers in both games, Texas A&M’s CFP run ended early, while defeating the Longhorns has yet to be accomplished.
Still, Marcel Reed made strides as a pocket passer, and still impressed with his legs, producing nearly 500 rushing yards and six scores, and among the other 15 signal callers in the SEC, college football writer Connor O’Gara, who also contributes with TexAgs, released his SEC QB rankings, placing Reed at No. 6, and providing a quick analysis of the redshirt junior’s strengths, and weaknesses.
“I’ve already watched Reed fuel victories against four top-25 teams, three of which were true road games last year when he led A&M to its best regular-season win total of the 21st century. In those three starts, A&M averaged 43 points, and he accounted for an average of 319 total yards. Let’s not forget that when Reed made his first career start at Florida in 2024, A&M was just trying to end its 10-game road losing streak dating back to Oct. 2021. It’s because of Reed’s ability to show up in those moments that he and A&M are now worthy of being nitpicked in a different way.”
Marcel Reed has proven that he can win in the biggest of moments, but failed to produce when called upon against Texas and Miami, mainly due to accuracy issues and poor decision-making that will need to be ironed out this summer. As coach Mike Elko has stated numerous times this offseason, “consistency” has been Reed’s main issue.
“The consistency. To piggyback off what Mike Elko has said this offseason about his QB1, Reed needs to improve that area of his game. The late-season South Carolina game was an extreme encapsulation of that. Reed was tied with Taylen Green for the most turnover-worthy plays among SEC quarterbacks (via PFF), and he threw 11 interceptions when he wasn’t blitzed compared to just one when he was. If Reed develops consistency with navigating the intermediate range (10-19 yards), where he had a Power Conference-high 11 turnover-worthy plays, he’s got All-SEC upside.”
When digging into the numbers, which we did early in the offseason, Reed’s lack off success in intermediate throws, which consists move the chains and place pressure on the defense made A&M’s offense more one dimentional, but if the newly formed offensive line find success in run blocking, and Reed takes advantage of his deep wide receiver room to make plays in the middle of the field, there’s no reason why the second-year starter can’t have the best season of his young career.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M QB ranked Top 7 in TexAgs’ SEC signal-caller rankings
Reporting by Cameron Ohnysty, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
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By Cameron Ohnysty, Aggies Wire | USA TODAY Network
