This transfer portal season is crucial for Texas A&M as Mike Elko gained a ton of momentum early in the season that tapered off after going 1-3 to finish the season, missing out on the SEC championship game.
The first domino dropped when they brought in 7th-year quarterback Jacob Zeno for a visit and closed the deal with him committing on Tuesday. With both Conner Weigman transferring to Houston and Jaylon Henderson entering the portal, there was an immediate need for a veteran to push the young QB room in Aggieland. Zeno is the prototype QB needed for the role and does some of the things well that Marcel Reed needs to work on to take the next step.
Will Zeno be the starter? Unless he blows away the competition during the off-season, it will probably not happen. I’d expect Reed to do enough to keep his starting job with Zeno as QB 2 and Miles O’Neil in a third-string role.
Ideally, he will put enough pressure on Reed, forcing him to improve while being an experienced teammate to lean on when needed. Either way, he is the exact type of quarterback A&M was looking to bring in, and doing it this early in the transfer window allows them to focus on other needs for the team.
Steven Hamner of the QB Spotlight gives an excellent breakdown of what Zeno can add to the team and some reasons why he might be a good fit.
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