What Quinn Ewers brings to Texas

One of the top talents in the transfer portal is off the board, with former Ohio State quarterback Quinn Ewers heading to Texas, according to On3’s Gerry Hamilton.

The commitment is one that will surely grab national attention, as Ewers is among the more highly-rated prospects by the recruiting industry in recent cycles.

Ewers’ recruitment has come full circle. The former five-star prospect initially committed to Texas and then-head coach Tom Herman back in August 2020 before ultimately picking Ohio State.

The blue-chip signal caller made substantial news in August, opting to forgo his senior season at Southlake (Texas) Carroll, reclassify as a 2022 prospect and enroll early at Ohio State just in time for the 2021 season. The move allowed for Ewers to cash in on substantial NIL deals.

Ewers officially hit the transfer portal on December 3rd, after spending the fall as Ohio State’s fourth-string quarterback. He visited Texas Tech and TCU in addition to Texas.

Let’s take a look at how Ewers is a significant pickup for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns.

Accuracy and timing

Quinn Ewers was highly developed and advanced as a high school underclassman. He took over the starting job for Southlake Carroll as a sophomore and had a fantastic junior season, completing 72.4 percent of his passes for over 4,000 yards with 45 touchdowns and three interceptions.

That production at the highest level of competition in Texas high school football is as good as you’ll see. He missed a chunk of his junior season after having surgery to repair a core muscle injury but returned to lead Southlake Carroll to the state title game.

Ewers’ defining trait as a quarterback is his ability to make small window throws with timing and accuracy. He is naturally able to gauge receivers’ speeds and throw to a spot on the field, often before they show themselves to be open. He also showed a comfort in working from within the pocket in the face of pressure that belied his years. This was evident in the playoffs during his sophomore and junior seasons. Ewers’ regularly stood in the pocket and delivered downfield throws in the face of pressure from Power 5 defensive line prospects.

We continued to see his the accuracy on display during the offseason at the Elite 11’s Dallas regional. Ewers had an outstanding workout alongside other top quarterback prospects like Cade Klubnik, Nick Evers and Garrett Rangel. At times, it seemed like Ewers’ throws were never going to hit the ground, despite throwing to receivers he’s never worked with.

Ewers has a low, relaxed carriage point and throws from a three-quarters to sidearm arm slot. His short to intermediate passes have strong zip and tend to cut through the air. In addition to the accuracy, Ewers has a strong arm and average to above average mobility prior to the core injury. He ran for 568 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore in 2019.

Fit and impact for Texas

Ewers should be the top talent in Texas’ quarterback room upon arriving on campus. Of course, we could also see further attrition among the current Longhorn quarterbacks.

Steve Sarkisian’s best offenses have had precision passers at the helm. We saw this in 2020 with Mac Jones at Alabama. Jones’ surgical accuracy allowed for Alabama’s offense to run like a well-oiled machine and provided for a record-breaking, Heisman Trophy season from DeVonta Smith.

The hope for Texas and Sarkisian is that Ewers could be the Mac Jones for rising sophomore receiver Xavier Worthy. The former five-star pass-catcher was the top freshman wide receiver in college football this fall, with 62 catches for 981 yards and 12 touchdowns. Worthy is a big-time deep threat with elite long speed but also has true receiver skills with the ability to win at the catch point and pick up yards after the catch. The Fresno, California product is tracking to be one of the best receivers in school history and a potential first-round pick at this early stage.

The Alabama projection gets a little faulty once you consider Texas’ offensive line, which is still very much a work in progress. Should he win the starting job, much of Ewers’ success would hinge on his his ability to cope with pressure in the pocket. He showed positive signs of this as a high school underclassman, but that was at a lower level and over a year ago.

The great unknown

At the time of Ewers’ reclassification, I tweeted this: “Strictly from an on-field, long-term development perspective, every piece of evidence we have points towards players (especially quarterbacks) being much better off playing their senior high school seasons. Even ones as good and developed as Ewers.”

The great unknown is how Ewers’ long-term development has been affected by skipping his senior season. The track record of high profile quarterbacks voluntarily forgoing their senior year is not a great one. I’m not sure you could argue John David Booty (USC), Jake Bentley (South Carolina, Utah, South Alabama) and most recently JT Daniels (USC, Georgia) are better off for the move. Then again, we saw Caleb Williams thrive at Oklahoma this fall after missing his senior season due to COVID-19 cancellations, albeit not by his own choosing.

I was among the first to write glowingly about Ewers’ potential as a national prospect and wrote about the Trevor Lawrence comparison when he was a sophomore. One of the primary caveats even back then was that top quarterback prospects like Lawrence tend to show marked improvement over the course of their high school career, especially as seniors.

Quinn Ewers‘ lack of a senior season adds a degree of murkiness to his projection that we typically don’t see from quarterbacks with his recruiting pedigree. Accounting for his injury as a junior, Ewers has played in 22 games against varsity competition. We haven’t seen him take a meaningful snap in 10 months. Should he start for Texas in week one of the 2022 season, you’re looking at about an 18 month gap from his last game at Southlake Carroll. For as talented as Ewers is, this has to be considered when setting what are likely to be sky high expectations.

While the track record of quarterbacks who reclassified isn’t overly strong, it is possible that Ewers will be unaffected long-term. His talent and the skill he showed as an underclassman were undeniable. If anything, it should be interesting to watch.