Quinn Ewers will not be continuing his college career at a third school.
The Texas quarterback has declared for the 2025 NFL Draft after three seasons as the Longhorns’ starter. Ewers transferred to Texas after spending a season at Ohio State and has been Texas’ top quarterback since arriving on campus.
Ewers’ announcement comes after Texas lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Friday at the Cotton Bowl. Ewers was 23-of-39 passing for 283 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against the Buckeyes. He also fumbled on fourth down with less than three minutes to go as Jack Sawyer sacked him and returned the ball 83 yards for the game-sealing touchdown.
For the season, Ewers was 293-of-445 passing for 2,472 yards and 31 TDs with 12 interceptions. His completion percentage and interception rate was up from 2023, but he threw nine more touchdown passes over two more games than he did in 2023. Ewers missed two games this season because of an oblique injury and had missed games in each of the previous two seasons because of shoulder injuries.
Ewers had a chance to return to college for another season since he appeared in just one game at Ohio State during the 2021 season. However, a return to Texas has always seemed unlikely with Arch Manning waiting in the wings. The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning was the team’s No. 3 quarterback and redshirted in 2023 before serving as Ewers’ backup, and he started two games in 2024 when Ewers was sidelined.
Manning, a five-star recruit in the class of 2023, has long been seen as Texas’ QB of the future. And his presence is surely a big reason why Ewers became the subject of a viral report that he was offered $6 million by an unnamed school to continue his college career for another season. There’s never been any further verification of that report, and Ewers’ decision to go pro may be an indication that it wasn’t entirely true.
Ewers isn’t seen as a surefire early round pick in the NFL Draft, though he could easily move up draft boards with strong workouts. The class of 2025 isn’t considered a strong one for quarterbacks, and there doesn’t appear to be a clear No. 3 QB in the class behind Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
With Ewers off to the NFL, Texas can begin its Manning era in earnest. He’ll be a redshirt sophomore in 2025 and will have three years of eligibility remaining with the option to go to the NFL as early as 2026.
In nine appearances in 2024, Manning was 61-of-90 passing for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed 24 times for 100 yards and four scores.
Manning will be an early No. 1 pick in mock drafts all over with a great season as a starter. But as of January 2025, it doesn’t feel like a guarantee that Manning would immediately leave for the NFL if he has success. After all, he chose Texas knowing full well that Ewers was entrenched as the starter.
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