On Wednesday, University of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers announced that he is declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft. The news comes after Texas lost to Ohio State 28-14 in the College Football Semifinal Cotton Bowl Game. Before Ewers’ decision, rumors were circulating that the quarterback had multiple offers in the multi-millions to join a Big Ten conference school. Those rumors have mostly been put to rest, but that doesn’t mean his future of being an NFL starter is set in stone just yet.
Coming out of Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, Texas, as the number one recruit in the country, Ewers committed to Ohio State University for the 2021 college football season. As only a freshman, he struggled to get snaps on Saturdays and sat behind CJ Stroud and Kyle McCord in the Buckeye’s quarterback room.
He played in only one game during that year and finished with no passing statistics. With Stroud still leading the team in 2022, Ewers decided to transfer to Texas, returning to his home state in hopes of grabbing the starting position and making a name for himself in Austin.
In his first year with the Longhorns, Ewers played in 10 games and threw for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns, and six interceptions on 58% passing. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but he showed signs of potential on a Texas team that finished the year ranked 25th overall.
Ewers’ second season with Texas was when things took a jump. He played in 12 games and threw for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns, and six interceptions on 69% passing. Ewers helped lead Texas to the College Football Playoff, but they lost to the Washington Huskies in the semifinal at the Sugar Bowl.
His 2023 season showcased excellent decision-making and the ability to keep broken plays alive while leading the Longhorns to their best season in years. He did miss two games with a shoulder injury, but his performance throughout the season helped him land on the cover of the new NCAA College Football video game.
Before the most recent season, Ewers was at the top of the college football landscape. In games against non-conference opponents, he looked as strong as ever, throwing for 246 yards and three touchdowns against the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines. Ewers suffered an oblique injury in the following game against UTSA and missed the next few games.
In his first full year with the team, Arch Manning took Ewers’ spot as the starter, helping them get two more wins in the process. When Ewers returned, he didn’t quite look the same, messing up on easy passes and not looking as mobile as he did before. He still had some decent games, including five touchdowns against Florida, but he wasn’t at the same level as before the injury.
In late November, Ewers suffered an ankle injury against Kentucky. He returned for the Longhorn’s season finale against Texas A&M and their SEC Championship matchup against Georgia. Ewers struggled to pass for over 60% and threw for more interceptions than touchdowns in those two games.
During Texas’ first-round matchup of the College Football Playoff against Clemson, Ewers played decently, but the rest of the Longhorns’ playmakers took care of business to ensure the game wasn’t close. Against Arizona State in the second round, Ewers had a much-needed comeback game, throwing for 322 yards and three touchdowns, including a game-tying touchdown on fourth down with 13 yards to go in overtime.
In Texas’ semifinal matchup against his former team in Ohio State, Ewers left a few big passes on the table, and struggled to find the endzone in the fourth quarter when he was needed most. He only completed 23 of his 39 passes and was sacked four times, including a sack strip for a touchdown from his former roommate at OSU, linebacker Jack Sawyer.
Once Ewers was first injured in the 2024 season, he started to look a bit off, and that only compounded after the ankle injury later in the season. After the injuries, he looked slower and started unnecessarily lofting more and more long passes in the air. On paper, his stats were well above average, but he was never able to cap off a Heisman-level season that many expected of him on a Texas team that had national championship hopes.
Ewers finishes his college career with a 27-9 record with 9,128 yards, 68 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions on 64.9% passing. He missed at least two games in each of his three seasons at Texas due to injury but also helped lead them to two top-four finishes after the team went 5-7 before his arrival. Aside from the pressures of playing quarterback at Texas, Ewers also had Manning sitting behind him in the depth chart.
The pressure of knowing one of the biggest names in college football can take his spot as the starter doesn’t make things any easier. Ewers finishes with the fourth-most wins for a UT quarterback, tied with Sam Ehlinger and only behind Bobby Layne, Vince Young, and Colt McCoy.
Before the most recent season, many scouts would have Ewers as a top-three quarterback in this year’s class, but after his injuries and subsequent performances, he’s dropped off a bit. According to multiple draft rankings, Ewers sits anywhere from fourth to sixth on the quarterback bigboard. He is behind Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in all major lists.
Ewers seems to be in that middle zone, with similar rankings to Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord. To many scouts, Ewers’ deep ball has dropped off, and he struggles under quarterback pressure, ranking 86th in the country under duress. His multiple injuries and subsequent issues escaping the pocket have also been a knock on taking him near the top of the draft.
Near the end of the 2024 season, rumors started circulating that Ewers had been offered four million dollars from an unnamed team in the Big 10 conference to transfer after the season. As the days passed, that number increased to six million, then most recently to eight million. The schools offering the money were never fully revealed, but many believe that Oregon, Notre Dame, and even Ohio State wanted Ewers for next year.
With Georgia’s Carson Beck transferring to Miami and Milroe leaving Alabama for the draft, there were rumors of Ewers transferring within the SEC. Prior to the Cotton Bowl, in an interview, Ewers said that this was going to be his last season in college football, but the rumors persisted regardless. Now, with his announcement to enter the NFL Draft, it looks like none of them will come to fruition. The NFL does allow players to have a few days to take their name out of the draft, but as the hours go on, that seems less and less likely, even with the amount of money Ewers was offered.
Overall, Ewers had a very strong college career. It could have gone a bit better with Texas winning a national championship. Still, he had to face a lot of adversity in the form of injuries and the constant conversation in the national media about Manning right behind him. At Texas, expectations are as high as anywhere, and Ewers helped them return to national prominence after a lackluster few years. If he can stay healthy and become a bit better of a decision-maker, Ewers is poised to have a high-quality NFL career.
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