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ESPN names Texas A&M's 'two concerns' entering the 2026 season

Texas A&M's 2026 season is less than three months away, as the Aggies will open the new campaign against Missouri State on Saturday, Sept. 5, officially kick-starting coach Mike Elko's third season at the helm. This offseason, before seeing a record 10 players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, Elko and his staff landed 17 players from the transfer portal, while a host of key starters announced their return.

While starting quarterback Marcel Reed's return was absolutely vital for the Aggies to have any shot at making it back to the College Football Playoff, the loss of unanimous All-American edge Cashius Howell and four of five starting offensive linemen will continue to serve as primary question marks when national analysts discuss Texas A&M this summer.

Still, Marcel Reed's wide receiver rotation doesn't lack depth in the slightest after the addition of former Alabama wideout Isaiah Horton, who joins star junior Mario Craver, Asthon Bethel-Roman, Terry Bussey, Jerome Myles, and four freshman wide receivers who nearly all possess NFL potential.

Bringing back a solid 65% of the 2025 roster, including 123 combined starts, ESPN's Bill Connelly provided what should be his final SEC football preview this week, while his A&M focus geared towards the program's deep roster and Mike Elko's underdog mentality. Stating that he "wouldn't be surprised" if Texas A&M reels off 10 to 11 wins after finishing 11-2 last season, while noting just two concerns, starting with Marcel Reed's lack of consistency under center.

"Along with Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss and Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia, Reed was one of only three SEC quarterbacks to throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for at least 550 (not including sacks). But he finished just seventh in the conference in QBR.

The main culprit for his mediocre rating: mistakes. He threw 12 interceptions (third most in the SEC) and fumbled four times, and his catchable ball rate (75.3%) ranked 15th among 16 SEC passers. His sack-avoidance skills are spectacular, and when he was in a rhythm, slinging the ball from side to side and watching the seams for big plays, it was a sight to behold. But he also threw multiple interceptions four times in his last six games, and his stat line in A&M's two losses -- 9.3 yards per completion, zero TDs to four INTs -- was ghastly."

These stats further prove that Marcel Reed is a "high variance" quarterback who, when on his game, is one of the top duel-threat signal callers in the country, but in back-to-back losses to Texas and Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff, four combined turnovers directly led to both defeats.

Working with new OC Holmon Wiggins and QB coach Joey Lynch, Reed has already added healthy mass to his frame, and will look to improve his accuracy and ball placement, including his participation in the annual Manning Passing Academy this weekend.

Connelly's second and final question for the Aggies is highly agreeable, as four new offensive line starters, replacing left tackle Trey Zuhn III, left guard Chase Bisontis, right guard Armaj Reed-Adams, and right tackle Dametrious Crownover, who were all selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, will be challenging. However, after landing four SEC starters from the transfer portal, third-year O-line coach Adam Cushing will be tasked with finding the best rotation.

"A&M lost six of last year's top seven linemen on offense and five of seven on defense. If Elko had to name a starting lineup today, it might feature four O-line transfers and two to three more on the D-line. This doesn't have to be a bad thing -- his four O-line newcomers combined for 42 SEC starts last season -- but rebuilding a line through the portal is scary, as many otherwise high-level programs learned last season."

Sticking with the trenches, losing Cashius Howell, and starting defensive tackles Albert Regis and Tyler Onyedim has created an opportunity for several young players, paired with several transfer additions, including Northwestern transfer edge Anto Saka, and former North Carolina DL CJ Mims, who are slated to start at defensive end and nose tackle.

"While we're at it, A&M's haul of five D-line transfers combined for only 14.5 TFLs last season, and almost half of those came from Ryan Henderson (San Diego State) in the Group of 6. Henderson and Anto Saka (Northwestern) have pass-rushing potential -- Saka's 12.5% pressure rate was excellent, even if it turned into only three sacks -- and the addition of tackling-machine linebacker Ray Coney (Tulsa) could be an immediate hit. But the Aggies definitely have something to prove in the trenches."

"Potential" is the keyword here, and Anto Saka's poor usage in Northwestern's scheme led to his average sack production, while CJ Mims' 42 tackles last season as an interior defender are quite impressive. Ryan Henderson's pass-rush ability has seldom been discussed, while the return of senior defensive lineman DJ Hicks and T.J. Searcy provides Elko and defensive line coaches Elijah Robinson and Tony Jerod-Eddie leadership in the defensive trenches.

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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: ESPN names Texas A&M football's 'two concerns' entering 2026 season

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