The Texas Longhorns saw their season come to an end with a loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Friday night. Now, it appears the Longhorns are also preparing to lose their starting quarterback.
Although starting quarterback Quinn Ewers has yet to make a formal announcement about his plans, ESPN’s college football insider Pete Thamel reports that Ewers is expected to declare for the NFL Draft.
“Sources close to Ewers reiterated to ESPN that the ‘overwhelming likelihood’ is that Ewers will declare for the NFL draft,” Thamel wrote for ESPN.
“Heading into 2023, that had been the plan for Ewers,” Thamel continued. “But injuries slowed him in that season, and he and his camp decided that not having 25 starts could hurt his long-term development. (NFL data shows that’s a line of demarcation for quarterback development.)”
Ewers declined to confirm his decision, simply saying “we’ll see,” though he did say that he does not expected to return to college football next season.
Speculation has also swirled about the possibility of Ewers leaving Texas for a lucrative NIL offer with another team, but Ewers dismissed those rumors.
“Haven’t even paid attention to it,” he said. “I’m not really sure what’s going on.”
Regardless, it seems evident that Ewers has played his final game as a Longhorn, potentially opening the door for Arch Manning to step into the starting quarterback role next season.
Obviously, this news sparked a lot of reactions on social media.
“Bold strategy. But maybe, best case, he goes second round to a QB needy team (Saints, Raiders, Jets) that don’t pick high enough in 1st to get Sanders or Ward,” one fan wrote on X.
“It will be interesting to see which round Ewers goes in,” another fan added.
“Good for him… Apparently he has the goods to compete in the NFL,” someone else said.
“Stay in college, Quinn,” another fan suggested.
“I like Ewers a lot – but the best case scenario will be day two. He’s missed multiple games every season at Texas. Undersized and is not blessed with the athletic ability to hide it,” someone else wrote.
“One of the more curious decisions of the cycle,” another person added.
Whether it’s the NFL Draft or the transfer portal, it is certainly pretty clear that Ewers has played his final game with the Longhorns.
We’ll have to see when Ewers decides to make his formal announcement.
