Marcel Reed is entering his redshirt-junior season at Texas A&M.

---

The Texas A&M Aggies have shown flashes of becoming real SEC contenders in the last three years, with multiple winning records and bowl appearances, including a College Football Playoff game the previous year against the Miami Hurricanes. They ended last season with the No. 16-ranked BiteScore at 7.16. 

In the third year of Mike Elko’s tenure, the Aggies are aiming to go further than they did last season.

As some of Elko’s best players have their college careers coming to an end, this may be as good a shot as any to make a deep postseason run.

Their offense begins with quarterback Marcel Reed, one of the Southeastern Conference’s top returning signal-callers. Last season, Reed threw for over 3,000 passing yards, nearly rushed for 500 yards and posted a 7.48 BiteScore, the No. 10-ranked returning QB.

A wide receiver corps of transfer Isaiah Horton from Alabama, Mario Craver, Ashton Bethel-Roman and Terry Bussey should help Reed bring the Aggies to new heights. Running back Rueben Owens II, who rushed for 639 yards and five touchdowns last season, will also lead the offensive attack. 

On the defensive side of the ball, an experienced unit led by linebacker Daymion Sanford and safety Marcus Ratcliffe makes it one of the best in the SEC. Texas A&M ranked 18th nationally in offensive yards allowed during the 2025 season, allowing 307.4 per game.

The additions of Tulsa linebacker Ray Coney, who could be one of the best linebackers in the conference, along with Northwestern pass rusher Anto Saka make that side of the ball that much better. 

A challenging schedule with matchups against Arizona State, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and more will give the Aggies plenty of hard looks, but a 9-3 record seems to be a realistic way for them to end the regular season.

Follow TysonPatt_Media on Twitter/X for more SEC coverage.