Quinn Ewers

  • 6-foot-2, 210 pounds
  • College: Texas
  • Comp: Kenny Pickett

In the summer of 2020, 247Sports unveiled Quinn Ewers as the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 class. In the article, Ewers was touted as the "best (high school) junior QB prospect since Trevor Lawrence." 247’s Gabe Brooks called Ewers “the best pure thrower in high school I've ever seen.”

At the time, Ewers was committed to Texas to play for HC Tom Herman. Herman was searching for a successor to Sam Ehlinger. But a few months later, in October 2020, with Texas limping to a 3-2 start, Ewers dealt what some argue was the death-blow to the Herman Era by decommitting from the Longhorns. Though Texas finished 7-3, Herman was fired. The Longhorns hired Steve Sarkisian.

Ewers lost a good chunk of his junior season of high school to a core injury. He returned for the 6A state title game, throwing for 350 yards and three TD but turning the ball over three times in a loss to future Clemson QB Cade Klubnik's Austin Westlake.

The following summer – on July 1, 2021 – the NCAA entered the NIL era by announcing that it was now permissible for college players to have brand deals. One month later, in August 2021, Ewers sent shockwaves through the college football world by re-classifying from the 2022 class into the 2021 class. 

Now the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 class, Ewers was free to sign wherever he liked. He chose Ohio State, receiving the first-ever $1 million-plus NIL deal out of high school. As a true frosh, Ewers was buried behind CJ Stroud and Kyle McCord.

With both returning in 2022, Ewers entered the portal. Longhorns HC Steve Sarkisian – heading into his second year – brought Ewers home with the help of a lucrative NIL package. Among his NIL opportunities at Texas, Ewers starred in a national Dr. Pepper campaign, and was on the cover of EA Sports' "College Football 25." 

It is generally understood that Texas wanted and needed to hand the 2025 QB1 job over to Arch Manning. There are reports that Ewers turned down NIL offers to transfer worth between $6-8 million. 

I see Ewers as an early-Day 3 prospect. Round 4 picks take home between $1.3-1.6 million cash as rookies. Ewers earned $1.4 million as a freshman at Ohio State, and reportedly averaged around $2 million per season the last three years at Texas. 

Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow recently referred to Ewers as "the poster child of NIL” on the "Dan Patrick Show.” That is no doubt true. But Ewers’ final NIL decision – to turn it down to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft – may ultimately lead to a pay cut in the pros.

Quinn Ewers Scouting Report

Ewers started three seasons at Texas, posting a 68/24 TD/INT rate and helping the Longhorns reach back-to-back CFP semifinals. After a strong 2023 in which the former five-star recruit posted 9.3 adjusted yards/attempt on 69.0% completions with a 22/6 TD/INT rate, Ewers took a step back in 2024, with 7.9 AY/A on 65.8% completions and a 31/12 TD/INT.

The No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 class, Ewers has an adaptable throwing style, with his arm slots running the gamut from true side-arm to near over-the-top. Ewers’ unshakable confidence in his arm is likely why he’s never perfected his lower-body mechanics. 

Ewers has a habit of starting to sling right when a decision has been made, skipping over the beat it would have taken to set up a proper throwing platform beneath him. This is maddening in clean pockets, because it puts to chance accuracy and placement. 

By his junior season, Ewers had a mastery of Sarkisian’s system. One area where the work showed was on timing concepts. Ewers tended to be right on schedule with his primary reads on three- and five-step concepts, driving off his back foot at the route break and putting balls on platters for receivers as they turned. 

Ewers delivers a tight spiral and a catchable ball, and has shown a feel for touch and layered passing in the intermediate area. This is an area of Ewers’ game that will translate — play-callers around the league will recognize this skill on tape and appreciate it.

My issue with Ewers’ game is what we’ve seen when the primary looks are taken away and he has to create. I see a mechanical thinker whose effectiveness wavers the further he goes down the progression line. 

This is why Ewers struggles with pressure despite having the arm elasticity and comfort throwing without a platform to theoretically be good at it. Pressure forces Ewers to make a slap-bang decision between non-ideal options outside the original design of the play as taught.

The 2024 regular season game against Georgia provided the most extreme example of this. It was hard to watch. Georgia took away his primary reads while a fierce pass-rush collapsed the pocket. Ewers looked like Sam Darnold in the final two games of the Vikings’ regular season: a deer in the headlights, frozen by indecision. 

The problem for Ewers’ next-level evaluation is that he doesn’t have Darnold’s physical talent. When Ewers was being hailed as the best high school player in the country, he drew ubiquitous comps to fellow Texan Matthew Stafford because of their mutual side-winding deliveries. 

But Ewers didn’t have nearly the juice in his arm that Stafford had at Georgia. The acknowledgment of this can be seen in Texas’ shift in aerial philosophy during Ewers’ tenure. The percentage of deep balls Ewers attempted as a senior in 2024 was slashed more than 5% from his first year as a starter in 2022.

That was for the best. Ewers can spin it in the intermediate area, but he labors to get the ball downfield. Ewers’ all-arm throwing style doesn’t help him in this area. Balls flutter when he tries to push it too far downfield. In 2024, Ewers completed 38.2% of throws 20+ yards downfield.

I believe Ewers will be a long-term backup in a timing-based offense who can run your system for you if your starter gets injured, similar to a Kenny Pickett.