The Texas A&M Aggies had high hopes for running back Rueben Owens II in 2024, but those hopes were dashed before the season even began.
Owens, a 6-foot, 205-pound running back from El Campo, Texas, suffered a foot injury in the first scrimmage of fall camp. That kept him out until Week 14, when he made a comeback against the Texas Longhorns and carried the ball just three times for 10 yards. He also played in Texas A&M’s bowl game loss to USC, and he seemingly knocked some of the rust off in that one. He rushed 13 times for 56 yards in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Owens now comes into the 2025 season with expectations on his shoulders, because as a true freshman, he showed off his potential with 101 carries for 385 yards and three touchdowns.
Can Owens recapture that potential and become a staple for the Aggies in 2025? He’ll have to prove that his SEC All-Freshman Team honor wasn’t a fluke and instead just a sign of things to come, and that’s going to take some work.
At the very least, he is healthy and feeling good, though, and that’s a huge update.
“I’m way healthy,” Owens told reporters (h/t On3). “I feel way better. Way faster, way stronger. My cuts are more fluent. So back then my cuts, they were fluent but it would hurt and I couldn’t really get out of my breaks. But now I feel regular, like 100%.”
That’s an exciting update for Texas A&M, especially because the Aggies can pair Owens in the backfield with senior Le’Veon Moss, who rushed for 765 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
Throw in the fact that quarterback Marcel Reed is a threat to take off with his feet (he rushed for 547 yards and seven touchdowns last season) and it’s not a stretch to think that Texas A&M could have the SEC’s best rushing attack in 2025.
As long as Owens can stay healthy, he projects to be a big part of it.
