Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed Right Where Aggies Want Him to Be After Busy Offseason

As the Texas A&M Aggies get set to kick off fall camp, Wednesday's practice will mark the end to what has been a busy offseason for quarterback Marcel Reed.

Not only has he been working on improving himself on the field, as he is also preparing for his first full season under center as the starter. However, he also has opportunities to build his brand off the field, such as hosting his own youth football camp or participating as a camp counselor at the Manning Passing Academy.

But the busy schedule isn't something that concerns head coach Mike Elko as the Aggies get ready to start fall camp.

Marcel Reed is Fall Camp Ready

"The Manning Academy is something you want your quarterback at. You know, you've probably got a little bit of a problem if your quarterback's not going to that obviously," Elko said Tuesday at his first press conference of fall camp. "You know, last year was a little different because of injury, but if you've got a returning quarterback, you'd really love for him to get invited, and the opportunity to go there and learn from those guys is something you want to take advantage of."

It is a "standard" expectation nowadays, Elko goes on to say. He went through it during his time at Duke, where his then-quarterback Riley Leonard was invited to take part in the same position that Reed did this summer.

Reed not only got the chance to lead the next generation of quarterbacks and learn from the Manning family, but he also competed against other signal-callers from around college football. Chief among those other college quarterbacks was Texas's Arch Manning.

But while Reed had a busy offseason schedule, which included working at an event like the Manning Passing Academy, he was still focused on doing something the staff wanted him to do. Gain weight. At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, Elko and Co. wanted to see Reed add some weight to his frame over the offseason.

No exact number was revealed by Elko when asked about Reed's weight on Tuesday. He did reveal that the quarterback is "close" to being right where they wanted him to be.

"Yeah, he's close. I think he's got probably a natural metabolism that I wish I had in terms of keeping his ability to put it all on, but yeah, he's close. He's close to where we want him," Elko said.

Players, including Reed, report for camp on Tuesday in College Station, where they will then start practice on Wednesday. They will be kicking off fall camp just a month ahead of their season-opener against UTSA on Aug. 30th.