Texas A&M's Marcel Reed Could Be Harder to Defend For One Big Reason

Marcel Reed has enough to offer as a dual-threat quarterback for Texas A&M to get creative with his usage and win big.

Marcel Reed doesn't have to be a 40-yard passer to elevate his game within Texas A&M's offense | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Texas A&M doesn't need Marcel Reed to become Joe Milton. Throwing bombs downfield in August is nice, but winning games because of big unscripted plays with your legs is a more transferable, tangible skill to tangible achievement in college football.

Luckily, Reed could be part of a highly athletic Aggies attack that utilizes his athleticism in designed quarterback play-calls as well.

First-year play-caller Holmon Wiggins plans to spread defenses out vertically with more four-receiver sets, but he has the speed out of the backfield to run successful sweeps with Rueben Owens, Jamarion Morrow, and Mario Craver.

Wiggins also has the speed from Reed to hold onto that himself and attack a weak box. Reed could attack opposing boxes with more gap schemes and utilize more RPO plays when opposing defenses are expecting shallow routes on the wide side during those sets. Reed can also punish blitzes with zone reads by running outside in three-receiver sets.

Reed can run anywhere and harm defenses. It's the passing game that's a work-in-progress, but that doesn't mean it has to hold him back at all.

Marcel Reed Still Has Question Marks, But He's Ready as a Runner

Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed looks to throw the ball during the game between the Aggies and the Hurricanes | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Now in year three as a starter, Reed has the pace of SEC play down. Now more than ever, he could be trusted to read and react after the snap.

We still don't know if his sometimes questionable decision-making has gotten notably better on second and third reads.

The word from fall camp is that he has progressed in big ways throwing the football, but the results remain to be seen on the field.

What we do know is that Reed is still one of fastest signal-callers in the sport. Wiggins needs to that advantage of that.

After Collin Klein unleashed Reed on the ground, unlocking over 1,000 rushing yards to go along with 13 touchdowns over the past two seasons, Wiggins has the chance to take that a step further in 2026.

Marcel Reed Becoming a Bigger Rush Threat Unlocks the Passing Game

The more Reed is able to devastate on the ground, the easier it'll be to complete the passes he is capable of.

Reed is great on the initial read. During the first quarter of games, he has a 161.20 passer rating. When everything is scripted, Reed is a great passing quarterback.

The more defenses are on their toes and not settled in, the easier the passing game will be for him throughout the whole 60 minutes. Reed has a great running back room to work with, but he can help out his own cause with his own legs.

If defenses want to get him flustered in the backfield by sending A-gap blitzes, Reed can make them pay by becoming proficient on read zone options. If they want to send bracket coverages to Craver on designed plays for TAMU's WR1, Reed can put his head down and attack the C-Gap.

If Wiggins utilizes Reed's rushing abilities to the fullest, there's an answer to most defensive play-calls aimed at exploiting what Reed struggles at.

Reed, at his best, could be a puzzle that defenses can't solve for the majority of the game. That may just be enough of a difference-maker to bring the Aggies its deepest playoff run in modern program history.

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