Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers raised eyebrows on Wednesday when he announced his intention to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Yet, as perplexing as it seems, it could end up being a smart decision based on an underwhelming quarterback class.
After six quarterbacks were selected in the top 12 of last year’s draft, only two — Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward — have first-round grades in early evaluations of 2025 prospects.
Like any good quarterback, Ewers knows how to exploit a weakness when he sees it.
Ewers led Texas to the CFP semifinals this season for the second consecutive year. Over the past two seasons, Ewers completed 67.3 percent of his pass attempts for 6,951 yards (8.3 yards per attempt), 53 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
Ewers has a quick release, averaging 2.59 seconds time to throw in 2024, and above-average accuracy, ranking 19th out of 94 quarterbacks with at least 320 dropbacks in adjusted completion percentage (75.8 percent), according to Pro Football Focus. Targeted players dropped 24 passes from Ewers, which tied for the 13th-most among all FBS quarterbacks.
Those who watched Texas in its biggest games witnessed Ewers’ limitations. He’s careless with the football, throwing an interception in five consecutive games to end the season and in 10 of 14 games overall in 2024.
Ewers also struggles with pressure, finishing the season with a 23.2 percent pressure-to-sack ratio, per PFF.
In the most important play of Texas’ season, Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer chased down Ewers for a sack and fumble that the senior defenseman returned 83 yards for a touchdown.
Last month, On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Ewers received a $6 million offer from another college team to remain in college and enter the transfer portal. However, Ewers has a lot of work to do to earn that on his four-year rookie contract.
Per The Athletic NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler, “Scouts’ grades on Ewers ranged from the second to the fourth round” in December. The pre-draft process will be critical for Ewers to surge up teams’ big boards.
According to Over The Cap, the first pick of the second round will have a $1.9 million cap number in 2025 and earn $10.5 million over the lifetime of his contract. The last pick of the fourth round will earn less than a million as a rookie and $4.7 million overall. Only the top five players will earn at least $6 million in their first year in the league.
There’s a gulf between Sanders and Ward and the rest of the 2025 class, but with so many NFL teams desperate for a quarterback, one might talk themselves into selecting Ewers much earlier than he likely should.
