According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Max Olson, Texas A&M true sophomore running back Rueben Owens will miss the entire 2024 season after suffering “a significant lower body injury” during Saturday’s scrimmage in College Station.
Owens garnered SEC All-Freshman honors in 2023 after rushing for 385 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 12 catches for 109 receiving yards and averaged 20.8 yards per kick return on 12 attempts.
“Rueben Owens suffered a lower leg injury in our scrimmage on Saturday,” first-year head coach Mike Elko said in a statement yesterday. “I will address his injury at my next media availability.”
According to the 247Sports Composite, Owens was the Aggies’ second-best recruit in the 2023 class. He was a five-star prospect out of El Campo (TX.) High School who was the #4 player in the state of Texas, the nation’s #2 RB and the country’s #31 overall prospect.
Owens helped Texas A&M to a 38-10 home win over Abilene Christian by rushing for 106 yards and one TD on 18 attempts. He also had a pair of receptions for 18 yards.
The good news for Elko’s team is that it has solid depth at the RB position. Phil Steele’s National Unit Rankings has Texas A&M at #11 at the position.
RBs Amari Daniels and Le’Veon Moss are both back. Daniels ran for a team-best 532 yards and six TDs last season, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. He also had 14 catches for 102 yards. In three seasons with the Aggies, Daniels has 851 career rushing yards, seven TDs and a 5.3 YPC average.
Moss had 484 rushing yards and five TDs in 2023, averaging 5.0 YPC. He added 11 receptions for 84 yards. As a freshman in 2022, Moss had 114 rushing yards and one TD with a 4.2 YPC average.
Elko also brought in a veteran RB from the transfer portal in E.J. Smith, the son of Emmitt Smith, who is the NFL’s all-time leader in career rushing yards. Smith played in 24 games during four injury-marred seasons at Stanford, rushing for 557 career yards and five TDs with a 5.1 YPC average.
As a redshirt sophomore for the Cardinal in 2022, Smith got off to an outstanding start. He had 118 rushing yards and two TDs, in addition to five catches for 37 yards, in a 41-10 home win over Colgate.
Then in a 41-28 home loss to 10th-ranked USC in Week 2, Smith ran for 88 yards and one TD on 19 attempts. He also had three receptions for 26 yards and one TD.
However, a season-ending injury sent Smith to the sidelines for the rest of the 2022 campaign.
Smith played in all 12 games for Stanford last year. He had 218 rushing yards, one TD and a 4.1 YPC average. Smith also had 33 catches for 242 yards.
FanDuel has Texas A&M with a season win total of 8.5 (‘over’ -132, ‘under’ +106). As of this morning, most books had the Aggies installed as one-point home favorites vs. Notre Dame in their season opener. The total was 46.5 or 47 points.
I have Texas A&M ranked #20 in the Preseason Power Rankings.