Texas A&M’s Rueben Owens Ready for Breakout Season as Aggies’ New Lead Back

Rueben Owens II has spent the first several years of his Texas A&M career showing flashes of the talent that made him one of the nation's top running back recruits coming out of high school. Now, the Aggies are counting on him to turn those flashes into consistent production.

Owens enters the 2026 season in line for the biggest role of his college career. With Le'Veon Moss no longer in College Station, Owens has an opportunity to establish himself as Texas A&M's primary running back and become a central figure in an offense looking to build on last year's success.

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The former five-star prospect showed plenty of promise in 2025. Owens finished the season with 639 rushing yards and five touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry. He also demonstrated his ability to make explosive plays, including a pair of 100-yard performances against SEC opponents.

Those numbers provide a solid foundation, but there is reason to believe Owens can take another step forward in 2026.

For one, he should have a much larger opportunity to establish a rhythm. Rather than splitting the majority of the workload, Owens is expected to be the Aggies' lead option out of the backfield. That should give him more chances to showcase the combination of speed, vision, and explosiveness that made him such a highly regarded recruit.

Owens will also be asked to help an offense replacing several important pieces, mainly wide receiver KC Concepcion. Quarterback Marcel Reed returns after a breakout 2025 campaign, but Texas A&M will look to remain balanced offensively. A productive rushing attack could take pressure off Reed and make the Aggies much more difficult to defend.

There is another storyline surrounding Owens entering the season: expectations.

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Texas A&M has lofty expectations heading into 2026 after reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time last season. If the Aggies are going to take another step forward, Owens could play a major role.

A healthy and productive season from Owens would give Texas A&M another dangerous weapon and potentially provide the breakthrough season that many have been waiting to see from the talented running back.