I bet on true fish, Helaman Casuga as the starter. He is bigger than Reed and about 35lbs heavier. He threw for miles in HS He will be reunited with his favorite target, RS fish five star WR, Myles who is 6-2 and 220. Probably doesn't need the 2-3 years of "development" Reed required.

Casuga maybe the most talented QB on campus come next month but I just don't see Casuga starting immediately. However, I could see a midseason switch. I think the QB coach is a very important hire. They will have a Plan A of getting Reed to the next level. Plan B will be prepping Casuga to be the next starter. If Plan A fails then Plan B hopefully is ready at some point next season.

It's not even 2026 and we are already saying the back ups are better.

i am sure i will be ripped for this hot take but i am. not ready to give up on marcell. i saw improvement in his overall game from last year. his issues are almost solely driven by his lower half/ foot work. i know i am in the minority when i say this but he reminds me a lot of jayden daniels from Asu/Lsu. he had similar tools and has had a similar progression uo to this point. i expect marcell to be better next year and if he can get consistent footwork i expect him to be a lot better.

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

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i am sure i will be ripped for this hot take but i am. not ready to give up on marcell. i saw improvement in his overall game from last year. his issues are almost solely driven by his lower half/ foot work. i know i am in the minority when i say this but he reminds me a lot of jayden daniels from Asu/Lsu. he had similar tools and has had a similar progression uo to this point. i expect marcell to be better next year and if he can get consistent footwork i expect him to be a lot better.

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Ill agree

People who want Marcel replaced should do themselves and this board a favor by just logging off until next season starts. It's not gonna happen. It shouldn't happen. And complaining about it is just going to derail any real football conversation on this board for the next eight months.

aginresearch said:

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Casuga maybe the most talented QB on campus come next month but I just don't see Casuga starting immediately. However, I could see a midseason switch. I think the QB coach is a very important hire. They will have a Plan A of getting Reed to the next level. Plan B will be prepping Casuga to be the next starter. If Plan A fails then Plan B hopefully is ready at some point next season.

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Yes, they better be thinking Reed could be at his peak as a SEC QB and that QB #2 is critical to the 2026 season and beyond. No doubt Casuga is the future but they never really planned for him to see significant play his true freshman year.

Hope the writing is on the wall for Elko. We cannot afford to place everything on Reed. He is limited as a QB but also capable of having an excellent 2026 season. I honestly thought they needed to bench Reed halfway thru 4th quarter vs Miami. It was pretty clear that he wasn't magically going to flip a switch. Our coaches need to be willing to be selfish with next man up attitude at QB position.

I hope to see him make a Heisman run. I also recognize that he may continue to struggle with his accuracy and decision making. Need to plan for both scenarios.

Yes his main problems are his vision and footwork. He can't keep lifting his plant leg off ground while throwing. He's got a good QB coach in the offseason so hopefully they can work on that again

Are we sure Casuga is the future over Brady Hart? Wasn't Hart just as highly ranked/touted in the '26 class? (before he re-classified)

Marcel would be fine as an RPO QB. Trying to turn him into a pocket passer is a bad decision.

The only true freshman I can ever remember succeeding at QB is Trevor Lawrence. You're nuts if you think he'd ever start over Reed next year.

Once again, if Elko sticks with Reed it will be a huge mistake (the biggest one he's made so far at A&M). Reed is an inaccurate passer and makes some really bad decisions throwing into coverage. IMO he's hit his ceiling, and that will not take us to where we want go. If Elko can't see that then he's not the guy.

We need a difference maker at the QB position.

Reed is not a difference maker.

It's that simple.

Posted this earlier:

Here is an "Early Look" for Possible QB Situations going into the 2026 season:

1. Marcel Reed 6'1'' 175 - Junior (RS) - Here in 2026.
- Starting QB for 2026

2. Miles O'Neill 6'5" 220 - Sophomore (RS) - Here in 2026 or Possible Portal Entry
- Possible QB #2 in 2026, if Brady Hart does not advance to QB #2 in 2026

3. Brady Hart 6'4" 195 - Freshman (RS) - Here in 2026
- Possible QB #2 in 2026 - Starting QB in 2027 / 2028

4. Helman Casuga 6'1" 220
- True Freshman - Will RS as a QB in 2026 - Will enroll in classes in January 2026.
- Possible starting QB in 2028 / 2029

5. Eli Marcos 6'1" 205 - Freshman (RS) - Probable Scout Team QB - Here in 2026
6. Paxton Land 6'4" 225 - Sophomore (RS) - Probable Scout Team QB - Here in 2026

We carried 6 QB's on the roster in 2025 and probably will do the same in 2026.

Curious what everone's thoughts are on this.

Helaman Casuga has won two state championships in HS. This indicates he performs well under pressure in big games. I think this is something to consider as well.

Reed - probably a 50/50 shot he stays with A&M. Someone will pull a Miami and dangle 4 million NIL his way. We would be fools to match it, but we probably will. Even if he stays at some point next year he will be hurt and Hart will step in.

O'Neil - transferring and he should. I think he is good but he can't stay in front of Hart and I am pretty sure Hart has already passed him.

Brady Hart - most talented QB on the roster. I think he will be the starter next year.

Casauga - nothing about him is ready. He isn't close to ready. He needs 2 years to learn, minimum

JournoAG said:

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People who want Marcel replaced should do themselves and this board a favor by just logging off until next season starts. It's not gonna happen. It shouldn't happen. And complaining about it is just going to derail any real football conversation on this board for the next eight months.

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Anyone with an opinion that doesn't line up with mine should just shut up.

See how much I shortened that for you.

Even if I had a crystal ball showing Helaman Casuga would break every record in the books and go on to make Tom Brady look like a JAG by comparison in the NFL, in no way would I predict him as the starter as a true freshman

southernswag363 said:

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Curious what everone's thoughts are on this.

Helaman Casuga has won two state championships in HS. This indicates he performs well under pressure in big games. I think this is something to consider as well.

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I don't think this tells you much…Marcel had a state championship as well. It says "you might be good at the next level" in my opinion. "Get back to work"

Casuga isn't coming here to be on the bench for more than 1 year. He has better throwing mechanics than Reed already, but he hasn't played vs college competition (esp SEC competition). There's NIL involved here and partially why we won't go get nor pay $4M for a QB either.

OL will be the hurdle and will need a mobile QB to survive next year.

Issue is trying to make Reed a pocket passer (which Elko and Klein were hellbent to prove they could) but also his size doesn't make him suitable for being a year long RPO QB (lacks size/strength/weight to take beatings in SEC as RPO...and apparently struggled to get to 175lbs w high metabolism...definitely jealous of that attribute ).

I think Marcel Reed is a wonderful young man and at times has shown great promise as a quarterback but sadly, I'm not sure he is the answer for next year. The last two games have just been horrible, but I also think they were very poorly called games by our now gone OC.

But if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I'd be more than happy to be wrong.

Will be interesting to see what plays out.

According to 247, Reed never won any state championships. He led his team to make a state title appearance but they lost it sounds like. Their last state championship was in 2014.

I like Reed and think he's a good kid and represents the Aggies well. But it seems when the pressure is on in big games, execution appears to be a challenge.

The point is we need someone that can win big games, not just get us to big games.

Marcel needs to focus on mechanics. 2 years in 1000 of passes, and still needs tons of work.

Recipe for DCs will be the same again rattle Marcel and he throws Int and dirt balls

Opened thread expecting a "hot take" from a pundit

It's just a zoo rando w a terrible idea


Shame on me

southernswag363 said:

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According to 247, Reed never won any state championships. He led his team to make a state title appearance but they lost it sounds like. Their last state championship was in 2014.

I like Reed and think he's a good kid and represents the Aggies well. But it seems when the pressure is on in big games, execution appears to be a challenge.

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you are correct. I was wrong.

I think it's really hard to determine who will be clutch in college looking at high school performance. You can tell who definitely won't make it, but there are too many variables in play to be super accurate predicting who will be a gamer. The jump from HS to college is steep. Look at the number of 5 star qb flops.

Pichael Thompson said:

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Opened thread expecting a "hot take" from a pundit

It's just a zoo rando w a terrible idea


Shame on me

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Only 9 more months of this. Best to just avoid this place while the over emotional petulant children throw terrible hot takes at the board before being proven horribly wrong come mid-season 2026.

Hot take- true freshman never even seen a college practice is our new starter next year. uh, yeah.... so hot.

brady the hitman hart

knoxtom said:

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Reed - probably a 50/50 shot he stays with A&M. Someone will pull a Miami and dangle 4 million NIL his way. We would be fools to match it, but we probably will. Even if he stays at some point next year he will be hurt and Hart will step in.

O'Neil - transferring and he should. I think he is good but he can't stay in front of Hart and I am pretty sure Hart has already passed him.

Brady Hart - most talented QB on the roster. I think he will be the starter next year.

Casauga - nothing about him is ready. He isn't close to ready. He needs 2 years to learn, minimum

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Lol no one is offering Reed $4 million. Are you smoking crack?

Fdsa said:

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southernswag363 said:

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According to 247, Reed never won any state championships. He led his team to make a state title appearance but they lost it sounds like. Their last state championship was in 2014.

I like Reed and think he's a good kid and represents the Aggies well. But it seems when the pressure is on in big games, execution appears to be a challenge.

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you are correct. I was wrong.

I think it's really hard to determine who will be clutch in college looking at high school performance. You can tell who definitely won't make it, but there are too many variables in play to be super accurate predicting who will be a gamer. The jump from HS to college is steep. Look at the number of 5 star qb flops.

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Yea totally fair, you're right it's hard to make predictions. Manning certainly hasn't lived up to the hype from his 5 star recruit status.

In either case, what I'd like to see next year is more competition for Reed to hold onto the QB1 spot. I'm not saying we should bench him, but in the post-game press conference after the Miami game it didn't seem like he was all that upset that we lost. From my perspective, it feels like he's gotten a little complacent knowing he's been guaranteed QB1 given there's such a steep drop in talent for our current 2025 backups.

Reed is probably still our answer for next year, but he needs to know he isn't entitled to QB1 and he needs to work for it.

KCup17 said:

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It's not even 2026 and we are already saying the back ups are better.

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I'm old enough to remember when Connor Weigman was the savior of the Program.

I'm fine with Reed having the reins next year. He made a lot of progress but he still needs to work a lot in the offseason. As the season wore on, he seemed to develop some bad habits and his last 2.5 games were just bad. I'm more upset with the coaches not getting that turned around over the solid MONTH between USC and UM…maybe Klein did mentally check out. He could have produced the offensive production we had Saturday if he had stayed in a drunken stupor all that time.

KCup17 said:

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It's not even 2026 and we are already saying the back ups are better.

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This is a new peak for
Texags QBX who isn't even on campus is the best option
To start next year

Wasn't casuga on tv recently and didnt look that great?

If we pay Marcel $4mil no way he gets better. There's no incentive. He got his $. He's not nfl material. Game over