Texas A&M enters this weekend's game against South Carolina with a quarterback situation that is, to put it mildly, in a state of unease. The Aggies will be starting Marcel Reed in this game on the road in Columbia, but there is a strong movement from certain parts of the fanbase to start backup Brady Hart instead.
While this was a notion that seemed pretty far-off early on in the season, even from the words of Mike Elko himself, it has become more and more realistic as the weeks have worn on. Elko's tone has continually softened towards the idea after initially dismissing it out of hand, even to the point where he finally admitted that benching Marcel was a strong consideration early on in the Alabama game.
Of course, Reed eventually turned it on against the Tide in a way that we haven't seen so far this season, and for that he has earned the start against the Gamecocks— as he should have. The question remains, though: how long of a leash will he have before Elko decides to make the change that fans have been wanting to see?
How long can Elko afford to wait before making a change from Marcel Reed to Brady Hart?
This is, of course, presuming that things go badly in this game. I think there will be opportunities through the air against the Gamecocks, just from a statistical perspective, but there's a difference in opportunity presenting itself and Marcel being able to take advantage of that opportunity.
He did his best job of that so far this year against Alabama, but will that turn out to just be a flash in the pan? And even if he plays up to that level, it obviously wasn't enough to take down the Tide in the end, and it may not be enough to win this one either— after all, the Gamecocks are playing as well as anyone in the conference over their past three games.
If Reed struggles a lot early on, then Elko has to be ready to give Hart a chance. There's a lot of consideration that goes into this, of course, but if the Aggies truly are trying to win the most games possible down the stretch, they can't wait on Marcel to kick it back into gear anymore— it's crunch time at this point, and they can't afford any more airballs.
That's not to say that Hart will automatically be the solution. I'm on record as saying that I think Hart is not a better option than Marcel at this point, given what Reed can bring with his legs to the run game. But there has also been a mystifying reticence on the part of the offensive staff to utilize his legs the proper amount— and if he doesn't do that, then the distance between those two rapidly closes.
If Reed isn't picking up yards on the ground and he's also struggling through the air, then Hart should be ready to go after the first three drives or so. This is going to be a really tough environment for a young quarterback like that, but Elko has no other option if this is what comes to pass— hopefully, he is ready for that exact situation.
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