Quinn Ewers opens up on decision to declare for NFL Draft, how Texas prepared him for next level

After leading Texas to a second straight College Football Playoff semifinal appearance, Quinn Ewers faced questions about his future. He could declare for the 2025 NFL Draft or return to college football for one final season.

Ultimately, he chose the NFL and is now gearing up for his rookie year with the Miami Dolphins. In fact, using his final year of eligibility wasn’t much of a thought at all.

Ewers told On3 his time at Texas prepared him for the next step in his career. Learning under Steve Sarkisian – who coached with the Atlanta Falcons – allowed him to become NFL-ready, and the former Five Star Plus+ recruit said he’ll adjust well to the pros.

“I definitely felt that I was prepared and ready to take on this next journey and this next phase of my career and enter the NFL Draft,” Ewers said via phone on behalf of Panini America at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Los Angeles. “Because I was under Sark for three years, played a lot of football and have a lot of experience – which is, really, why I decided to end up coming out and going to the NFL, because I honestly feel like my game translates better to the NFL than it does in college.”

Questions and speculation swirled about whether Ewers would stay in college or turn professional. He threw for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns during his three seasons running Sarkisian’s scheme. That includes back-to-back 3,400 yard seasons, including a career-high 3,479 yards in 2023 before injuries cut his year short.

This past year, Ewers threw for 3,472 yards and set a new career-best with 31 touchdowns while taking Texas to the Cotton Bowl. When the season was over, he knew it was time to head to the NFL – and he knew he was ready.

“There was no doubt,” Ewers said. “I was ready to continue on my journey. It never really even crossed my mind to come back another year.”

Quinn Ewers: Texas ‘gets you ready for an NFL team’

Quinn Ewers spoke with On3 from the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Los Angeles as part of his partnership with Panini America. Panini America is the exclusive trading card partner of the NFL, and he was among a group of rookies attending the event as they prepare for their debut season and receive their first Panini NFL Trading Cards.

To get to the NFL, Ewers – who went to the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the draft – learned under Steve Sarkisian’s watchful eye. Sarkisian, of course, served as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator before returning to the college game at Alabama under Nick Saban and eventually becoming Texas’ coach in 2021.

The scheme includes multiple pro-style concepts. Ewers said it helped prepare him to take his talents to the next level – and he doesn’t see many better places to get ready for the NFL. In fact, he’s already seeing similarities to Mike McDaniel’s scheme with the Dolphins.

“It’s the best college program that gets you ready for an NFL team and an NFL franchise because of the way that it’s run and the way that Sark runs it,” Ewers said. “He’s coached in the NFL – he’s coached in Atlanta for a couple years. And I feel like he just brought that mindset down to us at Texas. He really just treats us like we’re grown, professional football players at the end of the day if you earn that.

“Within this offensive scheme, I feel like we do a lot of NFL stuff, obviously, because his offense was in the NFL and it succeeded in the NFL. He brought that down to college, and that’s what I ran. Funny enough, we do a lot of stuff that Miami does, too.”