Pete Thamel, Senior College Sports Insider
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers announced in a video on social media that he will declare for the NFL Draft.
The decision ends his career at Texas, where he helped the program rebound from a 5-7 season in 2021 and led the Longhorns to two post-college football appearances in 2023 and 2024. race.
Over the past two years, Ewers compiled a 21-5 record as a starter and reached the CFP semifinals twice. During his career, he led Texas to wins over Alabama and Michigan, led Texas to a Big 12 championship in 2023, and is set to finish this college football season. Consecutive wins over Clemson and Arizona State in the playoffs. It was Texas' only win since the College Football Playoff began in 2014.
— Quinn Ewers (@QuinnEwers) January 15, 2025
After transferring from Ohio State, Ewers played in a total of 36 games for the Longhorns. In three seasons in Austin, he passed for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns, completing 64.9 percent of his passes.
Ewers' decision was not surprising. He said in an interview on ESPN's "College GameDay" that aired before Friday's Cotton Bowl that he doesn't expect to return to college football next year.
When asked what he hopes to leave behind at Texas, Ewers said: "He was a great teammate and he pushed his teammates to be the best and he pushed himself to be the best, so he To be able to say something like that, you know, it's one of the best ever."
According to ESPN Research, Ewers is tied for fourth all-time among Texas quarterbacks with 27 wins, tied with Sam Ehlinger and has coached only Colt McNair. Colt McCoy (45 games), Vince Young (30 games) and Bobby Layne (28 games).
When asked what it was like talking to those Longhorns legends, Ewers told ESPN before the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: "It's definitely special. I mean, growing up, you know, seeing Ko Walter McCoy played, you know, watching the highlights Vince Young, you know, obviously, I was really young whenever he played, but just hearing all the stories, you know, where they stayed The legacy, even talking to those guys was unreal.”
Ewers will be an intriguing draft prospect, and as one general manager told ESPN, there's "huge disagreement" among his scouts. His pure arm talent and consistent production will be positives after spending three years in Texas coach Steve Sarkisian's offense. He's expected to perform well in the workouts and interview portions of the draft process, and spending time in a complex offense is a positive in the eyes of the NFL.
Ewers, the nation's second-best recruit according to ESPN rankings, graduated from high school a year early in the 2021 class and spent a semester at Ohio State. Part of the appeal of the decision was the opportunity to gain name, image and likeness that would not have been available had he stayed at Southlake Carroll High School in the Dallas, Texas, area for his senior year.
This groundbreaking decision launched my college career in a fishbowl. In December, he transferred to Texas after playing 5-7 seasons there. For Sargsyan, Jules' decision means a lot.
"I think bringing him home sends a message to everybody that we're trying to recruit the best players, not just across the country, but in the state of Texas," Sarkisian told ESPN before the Cotton Ball game. "bowl. "To get him home, I think, and then call up some other guys who want to stay home. It kind of starts the process of us signing a good class and building off of that."
Ewers' departure leaves Archie Manning as the 2025 starter. Son of Cooper Manning, grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, nephew of Super Bowl quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, passed for 939 yards and 9 touchdowns, ran Scored four touchdowns this season.