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Pete Thamel, Senior College Sports Insider
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is declaring for the NFL draft, he announced in a video on social media.
The decision ends a career at Texas that saw him help revive the program from a 5-7 season in 2021 and lead the Longhorns to their only two College Football Playoff appearances, in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Ewers went 21-5 as a starter the past two years and to two CFP semifinal appearances. In his career, he led Texas to wins at Alabama and at Michigan, led it to the Big 12 title in 2023 and to consecutive College Football Playoff wins over Clemson and Arizona State this season. Those are Texas’ only College Football Playoff victories since that format began in 2014.
— Quinn Ewers (@QuinnEwers) January 15, 2025
Ewers played in 36 total games for the Longhorns after transferring from Ohio State. He threw for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns in his three seasons in Austin, completing 64.9% of his passes.
Ewers’ decision doesn’t come as much of a surprise. He told ESPN’s “College GameDay” in an interview that aired before the Cotton Bowl on Friday that he did not expect to return to college football next year.
When asked in what he hoped his Texas legacy would be, Ewers said: “A great teammate that pushed his teammates to be the best that they could be, but pushed himself to be the best that he could be, so he’s able to say things like that. And, you know, one of the best to ever do it here.”
Ewers finished tied for fourth all-time for wins by a Texas quarterback with 27, tying Sam Ehlinger and training only Colt McCoy (45), Vince Young (30) and Bobby Layne (28), per ESPN Research.
When asked what it’s like to be in the conversation with those Longhorns legends, Ewers told ESPN before the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: “It’s definitely special. I mean, growin’ up, you know, seeing Colt McCoy play, you know, watching highlights of Vince Young, you know, obviously I was really young whenever he was playing but just hearing all the stories and, you know, the legacy that they left behind. It’s unreal to even be in the conversation with those guys.”
Ewers will be a fascinating draft prospect, as one general manager told ESPN that among his scouts there was a “wild variance” of opinions. His three years in the offensive system with Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, pure arm talent and consistent production will be positives. He’s expected to perform well in the workout and interview portions of the draft process, with time in a sophisticated offense a positive in the eyes of the NFL.
Ewers was the No. 2 overall recruit in the country, per ESPN’s rankings, and came out of high school a year early in the Class of 2021 and attended Ohio State for a semester. Part of the allure of that decision was opportunities for name, image and likeness that wouldn’t have been available if he’d stayed in Texas for his senior year of high school at Southlake Carroll High School in the Dallas area.
That trailblazing decision began a college career that played out in a fishbowl. He transferred to Texas in December, with Texas in the wake of a 5-7 season. For Sarkisian, Ewers’ decision loomed large.
“For him to come back home, I think sent a little bit of a message to everybody that we’re trying to recruit the best players, not only around the country, but in the state of Texas,” Sarkisian told ESPN before the Cotton Bowl. “And for him to come home, I think then rallied a few other guys to want to stay home. It kind of started that process of us signing a great class and we built on it from there.”
Ewers’ departure puts the program in Arch Manning’s hands as the starter in 2025. The son of Cooper Manning, grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and nephew of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning passed for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for four TDs this season.
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