With pressure mounting on the entire Texas A&M football program left and right, many in and around College Station wonder if one major decision last season led to the extremely disappointing start in 2026.
Did Mike Elko and his talented coaching staff select the right quarterback in 2024 when they picked starting senior quarterback Marcel Reed over now Houston starting quarterback Conner Weigman?
Despite the latest results, there is still no clear-cut answer regardless of the Aggies' struggles in 2026.
Comparing Marcel Reed to Conner Weigman
For some reason, a lot of people forget that Reed led A&M to an 11–0 start in 2025. The Aggies were ranked as high as No. 3 nationally after he engineered a 27-point second-half comeback against South Carolina. Unfortunately for Reed and the Aggie Land faithful, 2026 has been filled with nothing but lost dreams, nightmares and embarrassing results as A&M has lost three of their four SEC games by double figures already.
In those losses, Reed has only thrown one touchdown while throwing five picks and falling to pass for over 200 total yards against LSU and Missouri. Besides the horrendous stats, Reed’s confidence, body language and disposition have been completely off this season as calls for him to lose his starting job continue to mount each week.
Things got so bad last week, head coach Mike Elko went negatively viral for calling an extremely vocal and big part of the Aggie fanbase a “cesspool”.
While things are going haywire in College Station, down the road in Houston the odd man out in this equation Weigman, is has having a dream season and rising up NFL Draft boards.
Through six games this season, Weigman has produced an extremely efficient touchdown to interception ratio of 15 to 1 while leading the Cougars to a solid 5-1 record. It was rumored Elko and his staff went with Reed because they felt he was a better athlete than Weigman yet it’s Weigman who has produced three explosive runs, ran for six touchdowns already this season and has rushed for 17 total touchdowns in a season in a half at Houston.
Although he’s not going against SEC opponent’s week in and week out like Reed, Weigman is a certified winner as he has registered a 15-4 record as a starter in Houston and has the Cougars in contention for a Big 12 title after a 35-32 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State on Saturday.
In the end, Weigman might not have been the best fit for Elko and his staff but overall seems to be the better quarterback as his stats, consistent play and record reign supreme over Reed. If A&M got a do over with this program-altering decision, Weigman and Reed’s careers would probably look a lot different, but there’s no guarantee the results would be different.
At the end of the day, they are two different quarterbacks who need two different support systems to reach their potential.
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