Marcel Reed is becoming the surprise favorite of SEC Media Days that no one expected

Marcel Reed is inarguably the one player whose improvement will have the most impact on Texas A&M for the upcoming year, but his final two games of the 2025 season are bringing him way more criticism than he deserves coming into 2026. Reed was mentioned in Heisman lists coming into that final game of last season,b it a bad performance in a nationally-televised rivalry contest had him slide right off.

His national profile has only risen since that point, however, if only because of how much he is becoming a household name in the SEC. Now two years into being the starter for the Aggies and leading them to the playoff last year, most around the conference— and the nation— know exactly who no. 10 is.

That in mind, it should not be surprising to see him becoming one of the most often-discussed players in the conference (especially, obviously, because he plays the most important position for the Aggies). This is not just the case thanks to media personalities, though— coaches and players at SEC Media Days, surprisingly, have been bringing up the Aggie signal caller more than anyone expected.

Marcel Reed’s popularity shining through at SEC Media Days on day one

Marcel, Mike Elko, and the rest of the Aggies won’t be in Tampa for SEC Media Days until Wednesday, but the Aggie signal caller came up more than once on day one.

First, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz specifically named Reed as one of the top players on A&M’s roster when evaluating the Aggies.

Reed was the key to taking down Missouri last season up in Columbia, where the Aggies will have to go once again in 2026. It was a rough first half passing the ball, but when he began to get more active in the run game in the second half, things started to snowball for the Aggies.

This is an opponent giving another opponent respect, but it makes sense: Reed as a quarterback would work very well in Drinkwitz’s system (as he would in many college systems). However, the more surprising mention of Reed was from the Oklahoma quarterback, John Mateer, who shared about his time getting to know Marcel in the offseason.

Marcel was one of the stars of the Manning Passing Academy, according to draft scouts and other onlookers, and apparently he was also a popular figure off the field as well. He’s earning respect not only from other coaches, but from other star players across the league.

It hasn’t been since Kellen Mond that the Aggies have had a passer behind center who has commanded the kind of respect on the team, much less around the league, that Reed appears to. This is yet another encouraging sign for Reed as the Aggies head into a pivotal season in 2026.

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