Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers has been heavily scrutinized for years. He was a five-star recruit and the top-ranked quarterback prospect in his class, according to 247Sports.
He made headlines nationally after skipping his senior high school season at Southlake Carroll (Texas) to be an early enrollee at Ohio State. After it was clear C.J. Stroud was going to be at least a three-year starter for the Buckeyes, he transferred home to the University of Texas. He had an up-and-down opening season with the Longhorns in 2022, but he played well enough in his last two seasons to be the second-team All-Big 12 quarterback in 2023 and second-team All-SEC quarterback in 2024 while helping lead Texas to consecutive College Football Playoff final four berths. It is worth noting he played through the 2024 season with a torn oblique. Injuries were a part of every season of his Texas career: he missed three games in 2022 with a SC joint sprain and he missed two games in 2023 with a left shoulder injury.
The big knock with Ewers is his rollercoaster style of play, both from a physical and processing perspective. He shined in road wins at Alabama (2023) and Michigan (2024) where he put solid touch and a quick release on tape, looking strong once he settled into both of those games. However, there are a few habits Ewers probably needs to shake in order to truly be anything more than a backup in the NFL.
One is locking onto his first or second read and not fully reading the defense and going through his route progressions. Another is when a team blitzes or the pocket collapses, Ewers will regularly fade away and throw off his back foot. That resulted in the football sailing for incompletions on plays in which his target was open downfield or interceptions when a defender was able to get a jump on a wobbly lollipop of a throw. This habit also led to his receivers taking unnecessary hits on “hospital balls.” Ewers can move well enough to sometimes escape the pocket and throw off platform, but when he’s unable to use his feet to escape, things can get ugly.
He’ll likely need multiple years of development on the sidelines plus a talented cast of playmakers to become an NFL starting-caliber quarterbacks. This means Ewers is most likely an early Day 3 pick, in either the fourth or fifth round. With that in mind, here’s where the Longhorns passer could land softly when the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around.
The Las Vegas Raiders have a massive hole at their quarterback position entering the 2025 offseason. They used three different starters last season — Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew and Desmond Ridder, and they all failed to accomplish the following two things: throw at least 10 touchdowns and win more than two games. It’s a good thing they have $92.8 million in effective cap space this offseason, the second-most in the NFL per OverTheCap.com. That puts them in a strong position to win the potential bidding war for Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl quarterback Sam Darnold, this offseason’s best free agent quarterback.
Even if they do sign Darnold, it could be worthwhile to have a young backup to develop behind him after his end of season collapse between the Week 18 faceplant against the Detroit Lions and the meltdown he had against the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs. Ewers could be a decent fit in new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s attack after both spent the 2024 season in college football spread offenses. Plus, record-setting, All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Jakboi Meyers are a couple reliable targets.
The New Orleans Saints are attached to Derek Carr for his age-34 season. However, his contract runs out of guaranteed money in 2026, the last season of his four-year, $150 million contract. Releasing Carr after the upcoming season could save New Orleans $32.8 million in cap space. Carr and the Saints are together for better or worse this year, but they could pave the way for Ewers in 2026 with Carr’s cap hit set to balloon to $61.5 million.
New Orleans possesses a solid trio of playmakers Ewers could play with in 2022 first-round pick receiver Chris Olave, speedster Rashid Shaheed and five-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara. However, Olave and Shaheed are coming off of injury-marred 2024 seasons. New head coach Kellen Moore helped develop Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott into the three-time Pro Bowler he is now, and Moore just ran the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles offense that led to running back Saquon Barkley rushing for over 2,000 yards and winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors. The Saints could make some sense for Ewers, but they probably would need to employ Carr or find a different short-term option in 2026 before turning things over to the Longhorns star. Ewers needs at least two years of marination on the bench.
Yes, there’s more to this fit than just location for the Southlake, Texas native. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott turns 32-years-old in July and is fresh off the second season-ending injury of his career in 2024, a torn hamstring. Yes, Dallas re-signed Prescott to the richest contract in league history on an average per year salary basis ($60 million average per year) that spans the next four seasons, but Ewers’ developmental timeline could line up with that deal. Ewers is a project mechanically and mentally plus he’s young enough (he’ll be 22-years-old this year) to where he could sit for four years and still have plenty of time left in his career. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones also loves his Texas connections.
The Miami Dolphins have some speedy playmakers in former All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill, former first-round receiver Jaylen Waddle and running back De’Von Achane. However, they didn’t receive durability or big plays from the quarterback position in 2024. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had the shortest average throw distance in the entire league (5.7 yards) this past season. That could be attributed to playing through the third diagnosed concussion of his NFL career, which led to a season in which his 10 completions of 20 or more air yards were tied for 31st in the league after tossing an NFL-most 60 combined across the 2022 and 2023 seasons. One could also point that decline toward head coach Mike McDaniel’s seemingly schematic stagnation this year too.
Ewers could also develop well under McDaniel’s guidance from the sidelines for at least a couple years, and then there’s a chance he could one day be the Dolphins’ starting quarterback in maybe 2027. Tagovailoa doesn’t have any guaranteed salary on the last three seasons of his deal from 2026-2028. That means Miami could have major cap savings in 2026 ($31.2 million), 2027 ($36.6 million) or 2028 ($57.4 million) if they let go of the injury-plagued passer before his contract expires. Ewers playing with all that speed around him, although Hill’s days as a Dolphin could be numbered, could lead to a return for offensive fireworks in Miami in a few years.
Geno Smith would be an logical quarterback for Ewers to apprentice behind to begin his NFL career. Smith just capped one of the better years of his career with career highs in completion percentage (70.4%), passing yards (4,320) and wins (10). Seattle’s offensive line needs an overhaul after allowing the third-highest quarterback pressure rate (39.4%) in the entire NFL last year, which highlights how amazing Smith’s production truly was. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, tied the Seahawks’ single-season receptions record of 100 (also Tyler Lockett in 2020), and wide receiver DK Metcalf is one of six players ever with at least 900 yards receiving in each of his first six seasons along with Terry McLaurin, Mike Evans, A.J. Green, Randy Moss and Jerry Rice. There are playmakers in place
Ewers learning behind Smith for a year or two — he’ll be a free agent in 2026 but certainly could be extended — in the Shanahan offense under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, with Seattle improving its offensive line before turning things over to the Texas quarterback could work well if he’s truly left to develop for a decent amount of time. Kubiak was cooking at the beginning of 2024 before injuries decimated his offense, and Ewers could find himself at home in a system that had Derek Carr looking like he was in the mix for league MVP.
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