The curious case of Quinn Ewers. A 5-star prospect coming out of high school whose stock seemingly declined year upon year in college. The 2024 draft saw the most QBs picked in the first round ever. With the competition being that tough, Ewers chose to stick around and enter the draft in 2025 instead. However, he’s lost some traction during a year riddled with injuries. The consensus on Quinn Ewers is that he’ll be a Day 2 or 3 pick off the board. Not ideal, but still far from an indictment. After a promising outing in Indy at the Combine, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who’ve been yearning for a messiah figure since Big Ben, are being touted as a possible destination.

Prospects coming out of College, no matter how far along in their development, all need one thing. An environment and franchise conducive to growth. As a player and as a human. Well, Ewers could do worse than one of the most stable, albeit consistently middling, franchises in the league. With a future Canton inductee at the helm in Mike Tomlin, revered for his man-management skills. The Steelers sure have Russell Wilson on a very cheap deal (for them at least, sorry, Broncos), as well as Justin Fields waiting in the wings. But Russ ain’t no spring chicken, and doubts over Fields as a passer persist. Quinn Ewers checks out both of those deficiencies.

It’s not difficult to fathom why a perennial playoff team trying to get over the hump of round 1 is seeking to draft an injury-prone yet high-ceiling QB. As a result, a couple of former Steelers have leveraged their opinions on this potential move in the aftermath of an impressive Combine.

Ewers has shown poise in the biggest spots during his high school and collegiate career. Including some crucial 3rd and 4th downs during the Texas Longhorns’ playoff run. Being QB1 at a blueblood that’s based in a city (Austin) with no pro sports teams means Quinn Ewers has always been under extra scrutiny. Not to mention, he’s had Manning breathing down his neck the past 2 years. This evidences his mettle and strength to be a potential franchise quarterback. Even throwing at the Combine despite just being cleared to throw after injury shows character. Not to mention throwing at a high clip of 18/23. All this and more was baked into why former Steelers’ linebackers Arthur Moats and Terence Garvin aren’t averse to Tomlin chancing on Ewers.

Speaking over Arthur Moats’ namesake YouTube channel, the pair discussed signal-callers the Steelers are rumored to be in for. When the conversation got to Ewers, Terence Garvin said, “I like Quinn Ewers a lot.” He proceeded to elaborate why, as Moats concurred with the fact he, too, sees the vision. “Arm talent. A lot of big throws. He’s a big player,” resounded Garvin. Moats, too, chimed in during the former’s assessment.

“He’s aggressive, bro. He challenges you down the grass,” said Moats. To this, Garvin replied, “Which could be good or bad!” The two proceeded to discuss Ewers’ intangibles. Terence Garvin, now a D-coordinator under Michael Vick at HBCU Norfolk State, made sure a couple of things didn’t go unnoticed.

Garvin brought up Ewers throwing at the Combine despite an injury risk that could derail his career. For a player already struggling with health, this was perceived as a positive. Shedeur Sanders, for instance, didn’t partake and caught flak for it. Moats, again, was in agreement. “Obviously, we focus on wins and losses. But when you see those little things… dude didn’t leave Texas when he could have. When everybody was talking about Arch Manning. He threw at the combine and did all the drills when he could have easily waited for Pro Day,” he said. Ewers sure will be glad he didn’t wait around for the party to come to Austin. Despite his mental fortitude and strength, Ewers opened up to the effect outside criticism has on him after his day out in Indianapolis.

Quinn Ewers voices out frustration about undue criticism and exudes confidence post-Combine

Quinn Ewers took his opportunity to clear the air about “misperceptions” about him. He delivered a powerful message that hopefully permeates to every young player. Speaking to Albert Breer of SI, he said, “We’re human beings at the end of the day, and you see what other people say. It’s human nature to want to make everybody feel good about us… I have a great group of people around me that support me enough. They taught me a lot about not focusing on what everyone else is saying…I know who I am, and my loved ones know who I am.” Ewers even leveraged a self-assessment of his draft stock.

“I think I’m the best [in this QB class] and the most ready for the NFL. Because of what I’ve been through,” he claimed. Confidence sure isn’t an issue with this former No. 1 overall recruit out of high school. For now, at least a handful of quarterbacks are consensus seen better than him. But most of it really is down to injury concerns. If Ewers could erase that, he could very well be QB1. In what is seen as a relatively weak, albeit deep, quarterback class in ‘25. This is a player that has seen the highest highs as well as adversity. Hence he wants people to acknowledge that when grading him on a scale.

Quinn Ewers also told Albert Breer, “I just wanted to give [franchises] an idea of who I am. Because I’m sure they hear a lot of different things about me—and most of it’s hearsay or just not true. I wanted them to know about the resiliency I show in-game, the mental toughness I have to go through all that stuff I went through in the three years I was at Texas,” Well, Moats and Garvin sure see through the “hearsay.” So will the people in charge of making decisions come April’s Draft.

Ewers will just hope a solid organization takes a shot at him. The situation a malleable QB walks into can dictate the trajectory of their career. Ewers could still get back to the levels expected of him out of high school. There are a lot of pages left of his story. Even if injuries have indeed torn some pages out of the proverbial book of his football career. It may be morbid, but he’d be happy that one adversary of his laid a bit of an egg at the Combine.