Any thoughts on his damn near collapse yesterday? I want this guy to succeed and to contribute in the future, but yesterday he looked way out of sync.

I thought Elko was overly hard on him given these were his first game reps since September. He's played well in previous games. I am excited for him to take the reins whenever Marcel moves on to the NFL. O'Neill has prototypical size and a live arm, and he can run it decently well. Think he will be a good player for us just needs more time to develop and thankfully he's getting it while Marcel is the starter.

Bibbyyyyy said:

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I thought Elko was overly hard on him given these were his first game reps since September. He's played well in previous games. I am excited for him to take the reins whenever Marcel moves on to the NFL. O'Neill has prototypical size and a live arm, and he can run it decently well. Think he will be a good player for us just needs more time to develop and thankfully he's getting it while Marcel is the starter.

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He won't be taking the reins.
He probably won't be here next year.

Collapse?

You know, you could have stated it several different ways. Ways that are more accurate.

He was going for the big play instead of taking what the defense gave him. Something that can be easily fixed.

I would be surprised if that was the case.

I was encouraged by the whole thing. Miles has a great arm, but made some bad decisions. Elko coached him like it was still 0-0. Reed won't be here forever so Elko used it as an opportunity to get rid of bad habits early in a low stakes setting.

Hart looked pretty good. Moved the ball well. Needs experience, he's young, but may be the future.

Elko probably thinks the same thing which is why he was hard on him. Back ups never know when they will be called upon so have to always be ready.

Hopefully Miles can take being coached up hard.

O'Neill took a big calming breath before his first snap showing his nerves. I'm not sure he ever completely overcame them. He shows great promise though. You could see Hart's confident body language as soon as he got out there. I think they will both have successful careers.

Anyone being honest would say that was very discouraging performance yesterday. A&M is in real trouble if Reed goes down

All we need to know is that Marcel is our starter next year barring injury and anything beyond that is too far out to know anything in today's college football.

They may change rules and Haynes King could be back here in 2027

He looked terrible.

Thank goodness for NIL

At one point in time, it looked like Elko was screaming at him. No issue with that necessarily, kid has to learn. But he needs more on field game time. We'll see.

Miles can be a great asset if he's willing to wait. He can be very good in this offense but he can't get so focused on the deep ball that he fails to move the offense consistently. In his defense, it's understandable. He rides the pine all year and when he gets his chance he presses too hard to make a big play. I don't think you can read too much into it. I also thought the pass protection by the reserve O-Line was probably the most disappointing aspect of the game. Defensively, the reserves seemed to take advantage of the opportunity.

I doubt that Reeds successor is even on the roster right now.

I thought Hart looked far better and is younger. In the high level of college football you just don't have time to wait on QBs with one coming in every class and they all think they should be starting so I bet O'Neill will move on.

Same old posts that were said about Marcel.

It is extremely rare for a qb to step on the field at this level and be good to great immediately. Game reps and experience are crucial to reaching full potential.

I thought Elko was getting on him for throwing long, into coverage, instead of taking the higher percentage short/intermediate options.

O'Neil throws one of the best balls I have seen in a long time but his decision making wasn't great. Hart moved the ball efficiently but struggled to score. Both need experience

He's an old school pocket passer QB with a big arm but very limited in the run game. If he wants to play at this level then he needs to be able to make all the throws with accuracy. Not sure we've seen that from him in his limited playing time. I wouldn't be surprised if he transfers down a level or two so he can get meaningful playing time.

Looked to me like Miles came in, largely diverged from the plan and killed drives with low percentage 'wow play' attempts. And that Elko got even more angry after Miles did it again after making that mistake and getting hollered at after his first series.

Could be Miles made simple 'desire' mistakes or that he really continued to resist coaching. Who knows?

My two cents is that most likely Elko was pushing so hard for the team to play like normal and not act different because of the opponent. And that he knows damn well that if they can't maintain the game plan and their training during a cupcake win; they sure as hell can't do it when hard pressed by a more talented team. ( which may have been showcased by the starters vs S Car.)

He did. But he needs to eat a sandwich or 2.

It seemed to me Miles was trying to do his best Reed impression with the scramble, not sliding, and throwing that bomb down field. He needs to find his identity with what makes him successful as a QB, which I'm assuming is getting solid chunk plays as a pocket passer.

That pick looked like the same play he hit Craver for the TD against Utah State. That throw was money.
The one to Bussey was underthrown a bit - also single coverage. Maybe he shouldn't have thrown it, but if he hits Bussey in stride, different outcome.

Pretty sure at this point you don't develop QBs. You buy them in the portal. So beyond the starter it doesn't matter who's on the roster today.

O'neill has played in 4 games of mop-up duty. Not sure how anybody can judge him, good or bad.

They are also playing with the second and third string players

Reed is about to enter the part of season that will define him. If he loses the next two games then his value drops significantly compared to early season loss. He has no wiggle room if he wants to reach greatness.

I

ETxAg07 said:

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Same old posts that were said about Marcel.

It is extremely rare for a qb to step on the field at this level and be good to great immediately. Game reps and experience are crucial to reaching full potential.

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I don't think that's true. Marcel looked like a future star against OSU. Yes, he has had some rough looks but the star potential has always been evident.

Aside from that, I agree with you. It's too early to give up on Miles.

amercer said:

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Pretty sure at this point you don't develop QBs. You buy them in the portal. So beyond the starter it doesn't matter who's on the roster today.

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I've often wondered if A&M (Elko) could benefit from using a Jr College as a Farm team.
Our backup QB's could be playing college football, gaining confidence & experience.
Make sure the farm team has a good QB coach.

Aggie Joe 93 said:

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Looked to me like Miles came in, largely diverged from the plan and killed drives with low percentage 'wow play' attempts. And that Elko got even more angry after Miles did it again after making that mistake and getting hollered at after his first series.

Could be Miles made simple 'desire' mistakes or that he really continued to resist coaching. Who knows?

My two cents is that most likely Elko was pushing so hard for the team to play like normal and not act different because of the opponent. And that he knows damn well that if they can't maintain the game plan and their training during a cupcake win; they sure as hell can't do it when hard pressed by a more talented team. ( which may have been showcased by the starters vs S Car.)

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I basically agree. Elko knew we could score as often as we wanted with the first team. He wanted the qb to make our normal plays and and let all the subs show how they can make plays. He also wanted to burn time off the clock. Miles did neither. Elko didn't want miles just trying to show his talent. Now like miles and would like him to stay, but i don't think that is going to happen.

I've come to the conclusion you might not want to recruit freshmen qbs any more. Make a deal with them to go to a small college where they can start and get experience at the college level as a freshman, then bring them in as sophomores ready to possibly start.
It is probably time for A&M to pay Blinn to be our farm league.

Aston04 said:

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Anyone being honest would say that was very discouraging performance yesterday. A&M is in real trouble if Reed goes down

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I just think it's different when a player is given the reins to take over as qb1 vs the backup brought in and desperate to prove themselves with big plays.

What leads anyone to believe that he is leaving?

And it was no where near a "meltdown."

amercer said:

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Pretty sure at this point you don't develop QBs. You buy them in the portal. So beyond the starter it doesn't matter who's on the roster today.

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Three of the five top QBs in college right now are transfers.

I would go the portal for a QB.

5 Dollar Footlong said:

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Elko probably thinks the same thing which is why he was hard on him. Back ups never know when they will be called upon so have to always be ready.

Hopefully Miles can take being coached up hard.

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Great point…. If he can't take hard coaching do you want him as the starter? I agree he obviously has talent….. but to be successful at the highest level, you also have to have the mental toughness to be able to handle a situation like yesterday and grow from it! They believe in him to a certain extent, I would have to think that's why he was given an opportunity so early yesterday. But just like any other position, when you make mistakes you take your tail-ripping and learn from it. When you hold the football, you hold the program. Glad our staff doesn't take this lightly and coach them with kid gloves on. The last thing you want at that spot is a kid who can't be held accountable. I don't think mistakes when you're trying to make things happen is the worst thing in the world. I also don't think them using that as a teaching moment was wrong in any way. Both things can be true in my opinion… gig em