Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers revealed Thursday on Instagram that he will forego the 2024 NFL Draft and return to the Longhorns for a third season in 2024. Ewers, ranked 30th in CBS Sports’ NFL Draft Prospect Rankings, helped Texas to a breakthrough season in 2023. The Longhorns earned their first Big 12 title since 2009 and advanced to the College Football Playoff, where they were defeated by Washington in the Sugar Bowl semifinals.
After his Longhorns debut in 2022 was marred by an early season injury and inconsistency the remainder of the way, Ewers showed significant development in his second season as QB1. He finished the 2023 season with 3,479 yards passing and 22 touchdowns against six interceptions, as well as five touchdowns rushing.
Ewers missed two starts in the middle of the season due to an injury suffered at Houston, but the Texas won both games with backup Maalik Murphy filling in. Murphy has subsequently transferred to Duke University.
With Ewers’ choice now public, the former No. 1 overall recruit in the country has unfinished business as the Longhorns pursue a return to the College Football Playoff in 2024, still seeking their first national championship since 2005. The 2024 season also sees Texas join the SEC alongside rival Oklahoma, forcing Ewers and the Longhorns to perform at their best with the competition greatly increased from the Big 12. A nonconference road game versus reigning national champion Michigan in September adds to an already challenging schedule.
“I want to be the quarterback who worked every year to get better,” Ewers was quoted as saying by ESPN. “The quarterback who loved his teammates, the quarterback who won a lot of football games and brought Texas football back to the top of college football where it belongs.”
Arch Manning has had another year of growth.
If Ewers had declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, the Forty Acres would have seen the start of the Arch Manning era, after the former top prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle spent this past season as the Longhorns’ third-string quarterback. Instead, Manning will surely have to wait another season before getting his shot at QB1 – at least if he expects it to occur at Texas.
Given that Manning only played little in 2023 (he didn’t play until the last week of the regular season), it may be preferable for him and the rest of the Texas offense to spend another season developing behind Ewers before his turn comes. The Longhorns’ top four receivers from 2023 all declared for the draft, so having a seasoned quarterback like Ewers still in place should alleviate any further growing pains that would come with a QB change. Not to mention the modification to the SEC.
Regardless of playing time, Manning will be one of the most readily identifiable names in the sport in 2024, just as he was during his redshirt season. But, in terms of competition, Ewers will almost certainly start at Texas for the third consecutive season.
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