For more than a decade now, Texas A&M has finished its seasons just shy of having double digits. But in Mike Elko’s tenure, something exciting seems to be in the making at College Station. “We’re coming,” said OL Ar’maj Reed Adams at the SEC Media Days. Elko got the Aggies back into the limelight in his first season as coach. And, he put Marcel Reed in the news. The QB stunned fans with his surprise entry into college football, effectively cementing his future as QB1 for the Aggies. Elko now has some serious expectations for his crown jewel who will prove critical in his 2025 campaign.

Texas A&M’s success and Reed’s success are interconnected. The team thrust the QB onto the stage to replace injured Connor Weigman in last year’s game against Florida. And from then on, there was no looking back for him. He helped register a 7-game winning streak for the Aggies, after which his capabilities took a hit. Still, Reed powered through a period marred with losses to just barely reach the SEC Championship–a title they are yet to win since joining the league in 1999. Mike Elko hopes that momentum will continue and is confident that Reed will be a huge talking point for Texas A&M.

In a recent presser, Elko gave Reed his flowers, especially for his performance in the LSU, Auburn, and the bowl game against USC. “I think you saw a lot of growth and maturation from him. And so, we’ve got a ton of confidence in who he is,” Elko said. “I think if people would look into the numbers and the stats, you would see a kid who had a very productive year amongst some of the younger quarterbacks in this league and compared very favorably to that. And yeah, I think he’s going to have a great year this year,” he added.

Reed himself has some soaring expectations for his 2025 season. “C-Stat➡️New York➡️Miami Time to write this chapter 📝,” he wrote on his social media, giving a clear perspective of his goals. First, he’ll check off a brilliant 2025 season at College Station. He then plans to be in New York for the Heisman, and ultimately at the Hard Rock Stadium for the draft. Those are lofty goals, but with what we saw from last year, Reed sure has a lot of potential. He has 1,864 passing yards and 15 TDs in the bag; however, there is one more very powerful name in that QB room, who Mike Elko thinks has chances to surprise the staff.

Mike Elko has a strong backup option for Marcel Reed in veteran QB

Marcel Reed’s disappointing latter half of the 2024 season makes experts doubt his ability to start for the whole season. There are also murmurs of him not being able to hold onto the QB1 role for long. And in this scenario, Mike Elko thought of bulking up the QB room with a serious safety net. And he got former UAB phenom Jacob Zeno. He’s the oldest in the Aggies QB1 room and outshines everyone in the room with his experience. This will be Zeno’s 7 college football season, with 4,666 passing yards and 31 TDs in the bag already. Despite these numbers, he will be vying for the role of backup QB, finding a place behind Marcel Reed.

Mike Elko, however, was aware of the slim chance of Zeno finding his way to the QB1 spot. “I think we had a really young room, and we were trying to find a veteran presence, a guy who had experience. Obviously, you know, there’s competition in our program, and so the opportunity to compete is there. And should he come in and identify himself to be the better quarterback, that would be an opportunity for him,” Elko said, explaining the roadmap for Zeno. The formidable QB will be playing his last season with the Aggies, after a career at Baylor and UAB.

Unlike other young quarterbacks, Marcel Reed has a lot to prove in the 2025 season. At the same time, he can turn out to be a dark horse, pushing Texas A&M to heights no one expected. But if misfortune befalls the QB, does Jacob Zeno then become a star in college football?