Returning leader Rueben Owens is flashing explosive form, but dynamic performances from KJ Edwards and Jamarion Morrow are forcing tough decisions for a suddenly deep Aggie backfield.
Rueben Owens is doing a pretty good job of making Texas A&M's running back conversation simple.
Just give him the ball.
Unfortunately for Owens — or perhaps fortunately for the Aggies — the rest of the room keeps making things a little more complicated.
Owens broke off a run of more than 40 yards during Texas A&M's 14th preseason practice, offering another encouraging glimpse from the Aggies' returning leading rusher.
But rewind camp a couple of weeks, and there were already signs that Owens might have plenty of help around him.
Freshman KJ Edwards was "nearly matching" what reporters had seen from Owens during Texas A&M's third preseason practice, Cameron Ohnysty reported.
Sophomore Jamarion Morrow made his own case during that practice, breaking through for a 30-yard run as Ohnysty pointed to his speed and burst.
And that's what makes Owens' latest performance a bit more interesting.
Owens isn't trying to prove he belongs in Texas A&M's backfield. He already led the Aggies with 639 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 119 carries last season, appearing in 12 games and making five starts.
Getting there was the harder part after a foot injury suffered during Texas A&M's first fall-camp scrimmage in 2024 sidelined Owens for most of that season. He returned for the Aggies' final two games before coming back in 2025 to lead Texas A&M in carries and rushing yards.
Now he's ripping off 40-plus-yard runs in August.
That's encouraging enough on its own. Add Edwards drawing praise earlier in camp and Morrow flashing with a 30-yard run, though, and Texas A&M suddenly has a different question to answer.
Not whether it has a running back.
How many does it have?
Owens remains the proven option of the group after leading the Aggies on the ground last season. Edwards is entering his freshman season, while Morrow returns after getting his first college experience last year.
That doesn't mean either player has to take carries away from Owens for their early flashes to matter. If anything, the possibility of having multiple options would give Mike Elko and his staff more flexibility as they figure out exactly how to use the room.
Texas A&M opens its season against Missouri State on Sept. 5 at Kyle Field, which doesn't leave Elko and his staff much longer to sort through all of this.
Owens has done his part. He led the Aggies in rushing last season, then spent August providing more evidence that he can do it again.
The wrinkle is that Edwards and Morrow have spent camp providing reasons for Texas A&M to look beyond its returning leading rusher, too.
That's not a problem Owens needs to solve.
It's one Elko gets to have.
And after everything Texas A&M has seen from its backfield this August, figuring out who deserves the football might be getting harder for all the right reasons.
