Devy Digest: Quinn Ewers

Texas Longhorns
Position: Quarterback
Quinn Ewers
6’2” 205 lbs
Age: 21
Draft Eligible: 2024

Stats

Who is Quinn Ewers?

Ewers was a five-star in the composites and attended Southlake Carroll in Southlake, Texas. Ewers was the number one overall prospect in the 2021 class. Ewers would reclassify from the 2022 class to 2021, which caused a stir as one of the services rated him as a perfect 100. Rarely do we ever see a prospect get a perfect score. By having that, it brought an even bigger spotlight on him and put him under a bigger microscope. To highlight that, we saw it was news when he cut his trademark mullet off. Ewers was a two-year starter and would finish his career at Southlake Carroll with 25 starts.

Quinn completed 450 passes on 643 attempts for a 70% completion rate, with 6,445 yards and 73 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. As a runner, Ewers rushed for 701 yards and 12 touchdowns. Ewers initially enrolled at Ohio State and spent his true freshman season as the fourth-string quarterback, as he couldn’t make waves to improve his depth chart in the room. Reclassifying hurt him, and the quarterback position is where I would view a reclassification as negative and not positive. Being 17 years old and being asked to participate in collegiate courses, the strength and conditioning room, and learning a playbook while playing against 20 and 21-year-olds who are more physically advanced hinders a player at the position. A running back is a read-and-react at the worst case, and wide receivers, if they are a good route runner or possess top-end speed, can get away with being younger. 

At the end of the 2021 season, he would transfer to Texas and be the day-one starter in 2022. Ewers would struggle in his first year at Texas. For some reason, people viewed him as a top-three quarterback in the 2023 class; if he had been that good, he would not have returned for another season like we had seen. Texas is moving their chips all in as they entered the portal and loaded the offense with Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Silas Bolden, and Amari NiBlack.

Strengths

Ewers has good arm strength and can make all the throws if given enough opportunities. Ewers is a good athlete and able to navigate the pocket with ease. That trait allows him to buy additional time for his receivers to get open and be able to make plays. Ewers can play with his feet and move the chains as a good athlete. That added trait allows Ewers to escape pressure when he senses it. His mobility allows him to make off-platform plays quickly, and he is comfortable on the move and shows good accuracy in short to intermediate throws. Ewers is a quick processor and will quickly move to his second and third reads. Ewers plays up to the competition; some of his best games have come against games where he’s needed to put the team on his back; that’s a trait that can’t be taught. Ewers has been in the spotlight for several years now, and that trait of having all eyes on him has served him well, as he'll be able to adjust to the media attention at the next level.

Improvements/Concerns

Ewers has an alarming concern; he is abysmal, throwing deep. While he has good arm strength, his overall arm talent is questionable. He will make a beautiful NFL throw on one play, and the next, he will overthrow an easy out route. When looking at the film, this is due to several reasons. Ewers needs consistent footwork and throwing mechanics. He is adjusting too many things at once from his Quarterback coaching and listening too much about his mechanics rather than reading and reacting. We have seen this play out with several quarterbacks throughout the years, and Ewers is in the same mold.

Ewers gets rattled when pressured, and his mechanics can go out the window when that happens. Texas had to simplify their play calls last year and had to work Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell's short to intermediate routes rather than being able to stretch the defense with the long ball. People were down on Xavier Worthy, but if they could connect on just a handful of deep throws, it would have made Worthy look much better. There are too many questions regarding Ewers, who is now in his third year as a starter and fourth year overall in college. If Ewers can show consistency as a passer and improve his deep ball, a lot of his concerns will be alleviated.

Beyond the Numbers