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Quinn Ewers returning to Texas in 2024: QB to lead Longhorns into SEC next season with aspirations on return to CFP
Ewers will forego the 2024 NFL Draft as he returns to Texas for a third season
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers will bypass the 2024 NFL Draft return for a third season with the Longhorns in 2024, he revealed Thursday on Instagram. Ewers, who checks in at No. 30 in CBS Sports’ NFL Draft Prospect Rankings, helped steer Texas to a breakthrough season in 2023. The Longhorns earned their first Big 12 championship since 2009 and reached the College Football Playoff before falling to Washington in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal.
Ewers demonstrated tremendous development during his second season as QB1 after his Longhorns debut in 2022 was plagued by an early season injury and inconsistency the rest of the year. He concluded the 2023 season with 3,479 yards passing and 22 touchdowns against six interceptions, and he rushed for an extra five scores.
Ewers missed two starts midseason after suffering an injury at Houston, but the Texas won both games amid his absence as backup Maalik Murphy filled his spot. Murphy has subsequently transferred to Duke.
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With Ewers’ choice now public, it’s unfinished business for the former No. 1 overall recruit in the NCAA as the Longhorns attempt a return to the College Football Playoff in 2024, still in pursuit of their first national championship since 2005. The 2024 campaign also sees Texas make a much-anticipated transition to the SEC alongside rival Oklahoma, and it will require Ewers and the Longhorns to be at their best with the competition greatly boosted from the Big 12. Adding to an already challenging slate is a nonconference road game versus reigning national champion Michigan in September.
“I want to be the quarterback who worked every year to get better,” Ewers told 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.”
Another year of progress for Arch Manning
Had Ewers declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, it would have given way to the commencement of the Arch Manning era on the Forty Acres after the former top prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle spent this past season as Longhorns’ third-string quarterback. Instead, Manning will presumably have to wait another season before he gets his chance at being QB1 — at least if he expects for that opportunity to arrive at Texas.
Given that Manning only played minimally in 2023 — he didn’t appear in a game until the last week of the regular season — it may very well serve him and the rest of the Texas offense best to spend another season learning behind Ewers before his time comes to enjoy the limelight. The Longhorns’ highest four receivers from 2023 all declared for the draft, so having a seasoned quarterback like Ewers still in place could offset any extra growing pains that might come with a quarterback change on top of that. Not to mention, there’s the adjustment to the SEC.
Playing time aside, Manning still figures to be one of the most instantly-recognizable names in the sport in 2024, just as he was during his redshirt season. But from a competition sense, the starting job at Texas is all but a cinch to go to Ewers for a third straight season.
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