Quinn Ewers‘ journey hasn’t been smooth. Starting as an Ohio State Buckeyes commit in 2020, the QB didn’t get much of a chance to prove his potential. Next move? He went to Longhorns, and they nurtured and appreciated his incredible talent. Ewers paid back by leading the team to multiple playoffs and proved his worth in front of the much-touted and famed prodigy Arch Manning. The 22-year-old has since racked up more than 9,000 passing yards and registered his name among some of the esteemed names in the Longhorns’ famed history. But still, a chapter remains to be written in the QB’s life.

The NFL draft every year looks like nothing but a big gamble. You get several highly rated prospects; there’s hype created for some of them, some are touted to be lower placed, and many go unnoticed throughout the pre-draft process. But some of them come to the NFL draft and surprise even the best of analysts, like Michael Penix Jr.‘s move to the Atlanta Falcons last year, as the team already had Kirk Cousins on a massive deal. Quinn Ewers’ fate seems quite like that.

Less than two weeks ahead of the draft, there are all kinds of cases being made for every player who has chosen to move to the pros. Quinn Ewers is no stranger to that. Some of these links are mere rumors. At the same time, we also have credible information. For instance, Cam Ward is going to the Titans. Everyone believes that now. The credibility gets further established when a quarterback starts hyping up a time. Has that happened with Quinn Ewers?

In an interview on the Rich Eisen Show on April 12, the former Longhorns QB was all in praise of the Raiders and their head coach, Pete Carroll. “Coach Carroll is awesome. He just is always talking about compete, compete, compete. That’s like, I think he probably says that word 100 times a day, and it’d be super cool to be a part of a program, part of a franchise that, you know, they live and die by how they compete… He (Carroll) said you’re either competing or you’re not; there’s no in-between, and I feel that’s kind of how I already live, so it definitely would be cool.”

Well, the Raiders have recently acquired the services of Geno Smith in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks. The QB who had 4,320 yards last year with an impressive 70.4% completion rate surely would be the game-changer for the Raiders. Moreover, Coach Carroll has made his comeback as a head coach after 15 years with the Seahawks. So, the combination of Carroll and Smith has the potential to do wonders ahead. But that does present a crucial question: Will they not need a quarterback now in the draft?

Going for a quarterback in the NFL draft certainly isn’t a priority for the team now. But that doesn’t mean that the Raiders won’t be tapping into the draft for a quarterback in the later rounds. The first would be to act as a backup behind Geno Smith and also act as a long-term choice after Smith decides to potentially hang up his boots. Here comes Quinn Ewers, with his exceptional playmaking ability on the run and scrambling ability outside the pocket, which is something the Raiders can work with. The team currently has the 6th pick in the first round and two extra picks in the 6th round, being the 213th and 215th picks.

Is another NFL team interested in Quinn Ewers?

Apart from the Raiders, the Dallas Cowboys are also been touted to be looking to employ the services of Quinn Ewers. The Texas QB seems to be building towards a solid draft stock and will surely be elated with the development. But the Cowboys are also potentially looking for a backup. ESPN’s Benjamin Solak urged the Cowboys to take Ewers instead of going for a more expensive option like Jalen Milroe.

“Why not take another sixth-round flier in Ewers?… Ewers remains a developmental prospect in that he has the physical tools of an NFL quarterback, but lacks many of the necessary skills to reliably play the position well,” Solak explained.

Well, the Cowboys have just signed Dak Prescott in a massive $240 million deal, which will run till 2028. So, the QB1 spot is sealed for the better future. However, after the departure of Cooper Rush, the team is actively looking for a backup QB. Ewers’ name, in that sense, has come up several times in various mock drafts. So, a QB3 spot in that light is plausible for Ewers at the Cowboys. This is something the QB can potentially work with and gradually rise through the ranks of in the pro-football arena.