Mike Elko just put an end to the Marcel Reed speculation— at least until November 7

Mike Elko just announced on the weekly SEC coaches’ conference call that the Aggies will be sticking with Marcel Reed as the starter moving forward, despite the fact that the coaching staff— according to his words after the game against Alabama— were heavily considering a move to Brady Hart following the start of that game.

This will come as an upsetting development to many Aggie fans, as there is still a strong contingent ready to move on to Brady Hart after the way the beginning of this season has gone in College Station. At least right now, they are not getting their wish— this bye week was circled as the time that a move could be made, if it was ever going to happen.

Of course, there is also the line of thought that if Elko and company didn’t pull Reed after back-to-back passes being intercepted in Tuscaloosa, then they are simply not going to do it this year. That makes a lot of sense on its face, but if you go with that line of thought, you’re also going to have to own up to the fact that it was apparently the right decision to leave him in the game.

Texas A&M will stick with Marcel Reed as the starter for South Carolina— but no promises after that

After those two bad passes (which, in the pantheon of bad passes that Reed has had this season, were actually pretty forgiveable), Marcel looked like he had completely overcome whatever mental block he had been working under up until that point. He was positively dealing throughout the first half, and though everything flipped on that fourth-and-one— again, a spot where many are seeking to assign him blame, even against the coach’s words— Marcel’s passing was a huge reason the Aggies were up on the Tide heading into the fourth.

The extra dimension of Reed’s legs helped the Aggies significantly in that game as well, as it will against the rest of the teams on the schedule (if the team actually commits to using them). Before sacks, Marcel picked up 40 yards on the ground against the Tide and scored a touchdown on a run play.

All that said, this is also phrasing that leaves room for the Aggies to eventually make a change, even if they’re not making one right now. Reed has done enough to earn the start at South Carolina, but if things go south quickly, Hart could enter the game anyway.

That is a scenario that could well occur, and Elko could still be saying something completely true here. Marcel is the starter for the South Carolina game— but maybe his leash is just far shorter than it has been at any other point in his career.

We’ll have to see how things pan out— ideally, Marcel is able to silence the critics with the best four-game stretch of his career in November (not likely, but best-case scenario), and Elko looks like a genius once again. Even if not, though, it’s hard to get around the fact that this is the right move for right now— but the Aggies have an opportunity to switch things up going forward anyway.

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