Breaking down strengths, weaknesses of Quinn Ewers entering 2024 season

There’s little to not like about Quinn Ewers‘ game. On Monday, On3’s Andy Staples and Clark Brooks broke down the Texas quarterback’s abilities, revealing his strengths and weaknesses.

“He’s really good outside of the pocket,” Brooks said. “He had the top success rate outside the pocket in our impact study. One thing to look for with him and the one thing that really draws people toward him, is his live arm.

“He can have a lot of different throwing platforms. Of course, when you’re outside the structure, you generally don’t have your base underneath of you, your weight underneath of you—but that arm, that upper body, does consistently find wins.”

Those individuals wins culminated in a standout season. In the 2023 campaign, Ewers completed 69% of his passes for 3,479 yards and 22 touchdowns while only throwing six interceptions. Fueled by Ewers’ leadership, Texas reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.

For his efforts, Ewers was named a Davey O’Brien Award and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award semifinalist. Additionally, he was a Second-Team All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press and Phil Steele.

What are Quinn Ewers’ weaknesses?

Of course, no player is perfect. Brooks believes Ewers still has room to improve despite his obvious talent.

“He could do a lot better negating sacks, being a sack eraser,” Brooks said. “He lost 10 pounds last year. That was a little bit of a questionable move in my opinion, and what happened? Oh, he got himself freaking hurt.

“He does need a little bit more girth and be able to strength his way through those muddy pockets but look, when he’s outside playing backyard ball in the space and there’s no one in the way, he can actually find wins. And he’s really, really impressive doing so.”

Ewers missed two games last season after suffering an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder against Houston. His absence nearly cost Texas its debut appearance in the College Football Playoff.

With Maalik Murphy starting in Ewers’ place, Texas narrowly defeated Kansas State 33-30 in an overtime thriller. Ewers promptly returned the following week and finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak.

While Brooks still has hesitations regarding Ewers in the upcoming season, he’s ultimately optimistic for Ewers’ junior campaign.

“I’m gonna hold out hope from that he can put it all together this fall and really maintain his perception as one of the best in college football,” Brooks said.