Heading into the 2024 season, Quinn Ewers was projected as a franchise quarterback with ESPN’s mock draft putting him as the 10th overall pick in the first round. However, a few months into the season an oblique injury in Week 3 sidelined him and he didn’t quite set the stage on fire on his return. His draft stock plummeted to being projected as the No. 119 overall pick. Ewers continued to battle injuries and mounting calls for Arch Manning to replace him to lead Texas to the Cotton Bowl game but his draft hopes have been further dented.

Ewers had a mixed 2024 season and many thought he might transfer and develop for one more season at the college level before taking the next step. However, he decided to forgo his senior year and declared for the NFL Draft on January 15. But with just roughly three months until the draft, Ewers’ NFL future remains cloudy.

In addition to his oblique injury early in the season, an ankle injury against Kentucky in November kept him out for nearly a month before he got back in action. Though he led his side to the Cotton Bowl, his performance there was forgetful, with the Longhorns QB getting strip-sacked by the Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer on fourth down. Since then there has been little update on how Ewers is preparing in order to push his draft stock, but we now have some news.

On February 4, an analyst for Inside Texas, Charlie Williams posted a clip of Ewers returning to the field. The caption read, “Quinn warming up with the go ball!” Shortly afterward On3 Sports analyst Justin Wells re-shared the post with some more insight. 

“First time since the Cotton Bowl that Ewers has thrown the ball. Dealing with multiple injuries in the last two months of 2024. Arm strength is returning. @QuinnEwers,” he wrote. Ewers’ arm strength and his natural throwing ability are his biggest weapons but injuries have hampered him from fully unleashing his potential. It looks like Ewers is working to get himself ready for the combine scheduled for February 2 and any lingering injury doubts have been quelled for now. The QB’s tenure at Texas has been hampered due to injuries over the years.

He injured his right throwing shoulder in a game against Alabama in 2022 and injured his left shoulder against Houston in 2023. This led to Ewers missing five games in both 2022 and 2023. The 2024 was not any better and the QB missed two games due to an oblique injury which may have led to his throwing ability being affected.

At Texas, it appeared no matter what he did he was always struggling to live up to the expectations of the fans. He helped coach Steve Sarkisian rebuild the program with massive road wins at Alabama and Michigan, but once Arch Manning arrived things changed drastically.

The clamor in the Longhorns’ fanbase grew about Manning replacing Ewers, however, Sarkisian persisted with his long-time QB. To his credit, Ewers didn’t let the outside noise affect him and went about his business and Manning too respectfully bided his time.

He played in 36 total games for the Longhorns after transferring from Ohio State, throwing for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns in his three seasons in Austin, completing 64.9% of his passes. His last season for the Longhorns was decent, but he might be remembered for that strip sack as one of his final contributions in the Texas Longhorns uniform.

Looking from the outside, Ewers came in as the golden child and savior of the program. He had famously left high school early and reclassified to join Ohio State’s loaded 2021 class. But he left for the Longhorns in search of more playing time, after backing up for C.J Stroud.

Despite not reaching his early promise and being criticized on several occasions, Ewers’ Texas career holds up as one of the finest in the program’s history. He ranks No. 3 on the all-time Texas passing yards and touchdowns charts and posted two of the top five yardage seasons. After his arrival, the program ended a 14-year conference title drought and grabbed its fourth Big 12 Championship.

Ewers enters the draft on the back of a promising showing and while many believe he could go in the first two rounds, the recent projects aren’t kind to him.

A reality check for Quinn Ewers’ big NFL dreams 

Sadly, unlike the other college football frontrunners in the 2025 Draft stock like Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, Ewers is yet to enjoy the limelight. Rather, there remain some pressing questions about the Longhorns signal caller. As per the Pro Football Focus’ “NFL Draft Big Board,” the Texas QB has been ranked the seven-best available quarterback.

After all, both Ewers and Georgia Bulldogs’ QB Carson Beck were projected to be among the top two quarterbacks selected in the NFL Draft. All thanks to the 2024 season, they no longer enjoy the prime seats. While Beck refused to take any chance and made a U-turn to college football, using his final year of eligibility to transfer to Miami, Ewers declared for the draft, but his stock has gone significantly down from last year.

According to NFL Rookie Watch, “Quinn Ewers is reportedly thought to be “on the same level as a prospect” as Spencer Rattler was last year by one NFL scout. The New Orleans Saints picked Rattler as the 150th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2024 draft. The report further added, “Many NFL scouts reportedly believe Ewers’ “real value” sits in the third/fourth round, but QB needy teams will jump the gun earlier than that.” If Ewers ends up being picked in the fifth round, it would be a massive challenge for him to make a place for him. 

However, per ESPN’s latest mock draft, the Texas QB will be picked early in the second round at pick No. 42. Regardless of where he lands, Ewers will have a lot to prove as he looks to leave the shadow of his time in Texas behind him.