The Texas A&M Aggies are less than 10 days from kicking the season off in one of the premiere week one matchups when they host Notre Dame at Kyle Field under the lights.
As the Aggies have gotten ready for the season, they were dealt a tough blow last week when they found out that running back Rueben Owens , who was exepected to carry the load and take control as the lead back this year, will miss the entire season with a lower body injury .
As they sit just over a week from kicking off, it's worth taking a look at who could help to replace Owens. Jeff Tarpley of GigEm247 appeared with Glenn Smith on ESPN central Texas radio and talked about some of the players who will fill in .
"There's probably more depth than what there appears to be on the surface. I think one of the things that you'll see is A&M is going to put people in different roles and maybe try to play their strengths a little bit more," Tarpley said . "One of the things that Owens brought to the table in 2023 was his availability. He appeared in all 13 games. Le'Veon Moss , who was kind of being counted on to be the primary down-to-down ball carrier last season, missed four games, had another game where I think he had one carry. Amari Daniels had multiple games where he only had about five carries or less and didn't see a lot of us."
Tarpley went on to mention a transfer running back that Mike Elko brought in via the portal as well.
" EJ Smith , Emmett Smith's son, is probably someone who's going to be used more in passing downs. He was a very good pass protector at Stanford last season (nine pressures), very good out of the backfield catching the football (33 catches for 242 yards). I think A&M will probably use him some as a running back, but I think that they understand his strengths lie in the passing game and maybe as a third down back."
What is undeniable is there is a ton of talent in the room, but exactly how carries will be distributed will be one of the main early stories for the Aggies.
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