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Last week, during the 24 hour War Room chat, I made a prediction that raised a few eyebrows … especially from @Ketchum.
I am predicting that Ewers will pass for 4,250 yards, 35 touchdowns and 6 interceptions with a 75% completion percentage and a 190 rating.
I know – it sounds like a lot. In fact, as Ketch pointed out, it would be the best season ever by any Texas quarterback.
But I don’t think it’s all that far-fetched and I’m here to make the case as to why.
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR:
The number one reason for optimism with Quinn Ewers isn’t necessarily about anything on the field … it’s all about his growth off the field.
“I’m really fired up for Quinn,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said about his quarterback Wednesday. “Coming into this offseason, as much as it’s been his physical development, I think it’s his personal development, his emotional development is something that has instilled a ton of confidence in everybody in our building. He walks into that building like he is the starting quarterback at the University of Texas, a top-five football team. I think that has permeated throughout our locker room. Even the way he’s carried himself today is, I think, drastically different than how he carried himself a year ago. So, to me, that is probably the biggest thing.
“Now, do I want more touchdowns, less interceptions, a higher completion percentage? Of course,” Sarkisian continued. “But I think those things are a byproduct of his preparation, or a byproduct of the confidence that he exudes and the way he goes to work, his relationship with his teammates.”
Coming out of the Big 12 Media Days last season, I wrote a column entitled; ‘Quinn Ewers is uncomfortable but he’s working on it.”
The gist of the column was that Ewers was still uncomfortable with the leadership aspect of his job, especially the vocal leadership.
“It’s just what’s expected of the quarterback at the end of the day,” Ewers said during the Big 12 Media Days on July 12, 2024. “I don’t really have a choice whether I like it or not.”
I came up with the idea for the column after attending the media days and talking with Ewers at a couple of different spots. The Texas quarterback was clearly uncomfortable with the press. He didn’t just look uncomfortable, he oozed it from every pore. You just knew he wanted to be anywhere else but there.
Ewers said, at the time, that he was working on being more of a vocal leader in order to win the respect of his teammates.
“That’s huge, obviously,” said Ewers. “Being one of the leaders of the team, you have to be able to trust one another and they have to be able to trust me or they wouldn’t believe in me.”
Ewers earned the trust of the team and led them to an 11-2 season and was just one play away from playing for the national championship.
Jordan Rodgers talked about meeting with Ewers ahead of Texas’ Alamo Bowl matchup against Washington during his freshman season.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a meeting where I thought a quarterback lacked confidence as much as Quinn Ewers. It was just the outside noise I think had gotten to him” Rodgers relayed on the SEC Network. “Now I say that because last year and the spring that followed, it was a 180. He is a guy that has a supreme amount of confidence in himself. He has showed that in the command that he has displayed in that offense and I think he’s going to take another big step.”
In order to take another big step this year, Ewers says he’s still working on his leadership skills.
“One of the main things for me was to become more of a steady leader and a vocal leader,” Ewers said at the SEC Media Days. “If either of those two things, I really think that we’ll have a team that will know how to handle adversity and a team that will be mature enough to win big games and continue to be consistent.”
There is a subtle difference between that quote and the quotes from the Big 12 Media Days last year. Did you catch it?
During the Big 12 session, Ewers was talking about being a vocal leader because it was expected of him and he wanted to earn the trust of his teammates. During the SEC Media Days, Ewers is talking about improving his leadership because of the team goals. Not his goals, the team goals.
That’s leadership.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Ewers always puts the team ahead of personal goals.
“He's more focused on trying to win a championship, playing the best football he can play, being the best leader, the best teammate he can be,” Sarkisian said.
And as for his comfort level now? It’s been obvious to all, even the greatest all-time college coach.
“One thing that I see in Quinn Ewers is that he’s comfortable in his skin, which shows maturity in their team,” Nick Saban said on the set of the SEC Network during the media days. “I think that’s really important to team chemistry because everybody’s bought into the same things and that’s the only way you can have any team chemistry.”
But don’t take my word for it – or Nick Saban’s.
If a picture is worth a thousand words then this snapshot from @Sunny Nelson speaks volumes.
So will all of this work pay off for Ewers during the actual football season (and not the talking season)? It will ... big time.
WHAT ABOUT ON THE FIELD?
Once again, it is all about the growth. If Ewers has continued to mature and grow off the field, what makes anyone think that maturity and growth won’t continue on the field?
Certainly, Ewers is expecting more growth on the field. It’s why he decided not to enter the NFL Draft after last season.
“One of the main things for me was just getting more experience under my belt,” said Ewers. “There’s a kind of a line of demarcation for guys who really have success in the league. And obviously there’s some guys that have rare accounts of it not being this way. But there’s a line kind of at 25 starts that you really see a jump in how their career went. I just want to give myself a better chance to have a long and successful career in the NFL because I don’t want to be a guy that just comes and goes.”
Ewers didn’t pull that 25 starts number out of thin air. He has been shown data that says quarterbacks are much more likely to succeed in the NFL if they have at least 25 starts in college football.
The data just makes sense. The more a quarterback plays, the more he understands the coverages he’s facing and the faster he’s able to process information and make plays.
Plus, as Ewers told “The Next Round” podcast Wednesday, it’s not just the reps he’s gained so far, it’s another year of high-quality coaching.
“It’s like getting a PhD in quarterback play, being under Coach Sark,” Ewers said.
To date, it’s fair to say that Ewers has been greatly helped by having great playmakers on hand. Ewers completed nearly every pass last year to Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington and Ja’Tavion Sanders … all of whom are now getting ready for their first NFL training camps.
It’s a big reason why Ketch, and probably some of you as well, are so skeptical of a big jump in Ewers’ stats.
This year, it will have to be Ewers who is driving the offense. Sarkisian was practically gushing about that possibility while speaking with local reporters at the media days.
“I was on the grass with them yesterday watching these guys throw the ball around and it looks as good or better than before,” Sarkisian said. “It’s fascinating to watch, but I think that’s a byproduct when you have a veteran quarterback.”
And Sark says not to expect a dropoff from last year’s wide receiver group to this year.
“This group is very talented and by far and away our deepest receiver corps that we've had in four years,” said Sarkisian. “When you talk about Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Silas Bolden, three really good experienced football players that came from good football programs. We had signed a very good class the year before with Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore, and Ryan Niblett. Then with this incoming class, I think it's pretty fair to say Ryan Wingo is a really good player for us.”
One of the biggest questions heading into this season is how – or even if – we’ll see all of those players rotate through during game day. It’s a question Sark himself still isn’t sure what the answer will be.
“To think I've got seven quality players there,” Sarkisian said. “Now, is it going to be a seven-man rotation? That will bear itself out, but I do think we'll play more players than we have in the past, we'll rotate more guys than we probably have in the past, and then as we work ourselves through the season -- when you start playing this many games, I'd love to tell you we're not going to get injuries. Injuries are going to occur, so we're going to play more players probably early in the season than we have just because you don't have some of that experience that we lost from a year ago.”
It will take some time to figure out the receiver rotation, but no matter who lines up outside, it is going to be Quinn Ewers who drives the bus this year.
And between the growth off the field, with another year’s worth of experience in the offense and reading defenses and a replenished receiving corps … it all adds up to a record-breaking season for Quinn Ewers.
And you can bookmark this if you want.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS FROM MEDIA DAYS:
Buy your stock now on senior defensive end Barryn Sorrell.
We started the day with Sam Acho telling @Anwar Richardson that he had dinner with Sorrell last week and that the DE is dialed in and ready for a big season.
Later in the day, Quinn Ewers was asked about who he saw as being the leaders of the defense. Sarkisian also singled out Sorrell as one of the players that was standing out. And that was all capped with Kelvin Banks saying that Sorrell and fellow edge rusher Trey Moore were the two players who gave him the biggest fits in practice.
Add it all up and there seems to be genuine excitement about number 88 heading into fall camp.
##################################
There is exactly one week left in summer workouts. The team will have its final workout next Thursday, take five days off and then the first practice of fall camp will be on Wednesday, July 31st.
Football is almost here!
##################################
When the season does kick off, Sark says you can expect to see more of a rotation at all positions early in the year. That makes perfect sense. But what was really interesting to me is that he said you will see a rotation along the offensive line as well.
“If anything this season is going to require, it’s going to require depth,” Sarkisian said. “When you think about playing August 31st, week one, with the hopes and goals of playing January 20th, that’s a long way to go with more games in between. To think that we’re just going to walk through it unscathed is probably unrealistic. So we’re going to have to play more players early in the season and that’s not just at some of the positions you would think of. We’re going to have to play more offensive linemen early in the year to get them ready to play if they’re needed later in the year.”
“I’m confident in that because I do think we have a really talented roster, a really competitive roster, and those guys are earning that opportunity to get out there and play.”
I’m genuinely excited to see how the offensive line rotation breaks down and to see which guys have stepped up and are ready for playing time. In particular, I want to see Trevor Goosby get some actual game reps. I’ve been extremely high on him since he first committed.
##################################
Not to beat this dead horse, but while some of you are going to be surprised by Ewers this season, EA Sports may be in for a surprise as well. Ewers said it’s a pretty realistic game, but …
“There’s some similarities but I was playing it the other day and you know the throws that I know I can make, some of them aren’t being made. But it’s a really fun game.”
For the record, he beat OU in the game he was playing the night before media days.
TWEETS OF INTERST
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for the renewed rivalry with Arkansas. I feel like it isn’t getting as much love as it should because Arkansas left for the SEC so long ago … many younger fans don’t understand just how much hatred exists between the schools.
##################################
Is there anything more on brand than Lane Kiffin causing Sark to mute a group chat with former Saban coaches?
##################################
Finally, you think Texas coming to the SEC isn’t a big damn deal?
Each and every coach who has rolled through the SEC Media Days has been asked about Texas … not OU so much, but definitely Texas.
Last week, during the 24 hour War Room chat, I made a prediction that raised a few eyebrows … especially from @Ketchum.
I am predicting that Ewers will pass for 4,250 yards, 35 touchdowns and 6 interceptions with a 75% completion percentage and a 190 rating.
I know – it sounds like a lot. In fact, as Ketch pointed out, it would be the best season ever by any Texas quarterback.
But I don’t think it’s all that far-fetched and I’m here to make the case as to why.
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR:
The number one reason for optimism with Quinn Ewers isn’t necessarily about anything on the field … it’s all about his growth off the field.
“I’m really fired up for Quinn,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said about his quarterback Wednesday. “Coming into this offseason, as much as it’s been his physical development, I think it’s his personal development, his emotional development is something that has instilled a ton of confidence in everybody in our building. He walks into that building like he is the starting quarterback at the University of Texas, a top-five football team. I think that has permeated throughout our locker room. Even the way he’s carried himself today is, I think, drastically different than how he carried himself a year ago. So, to me, that is probably the biggest thing.
“Now, do I want more touchdowns, less interceptions, a higher completion percentage? Of course,” Sarkisian continued. “But I think those things are a byproduct of his preparation, or a byproduct of the confidence that he exudes and the way he goes to work, his relationship with his teammates.”
Coming out of the Big 12 Media Days last season, I wrote a column entitled; ‘Quinn Ewers is uncomfortable but he’s working on it.”
The gist of the column was that Ewers was still uncomfortable with the leadership aspect of his job, especially the vocal leadership.
“It’s just what’s expected of the quarterback at the end of the day,” Ewers said during the Big 12 Media Days on July 12, 2024. “I don’t really have a choice whether I like it or not.”
I came up with the idea for the column after attending the media days and talking with Ewers at a couple of different spots. The Texas quarterback was clearly uncomfortable with the press. He didn’t just look uncomfortable, he oozed it from every pore. You just knew he wanted to be anywhere else but there.
Ewers said, at the time, that he was working on being more of a vocal leader in order to win the respect of his teammates.
“That’s huge, obviously,” said Ewers. “Being one of the leaders of the team, you have to be able to trust one another and they have to be able to trust me or they wouldn’t believe in me.”
Ewers earned the trust of the team and led them to an 11-2 season and was just one play away from playing for the national championship.
Jordan Rodgers talked about meeting with Ewers ahead of Texas’ Alamo Bowl matchup against Washington during his freshman season.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a meeting where I thought a quarterback lacked confidence as much as Quinn Ewers. It was just the outside noise I think had gotten to him” Rodgers relayed on the SEC Network. “Now I say that because last year and the spring that followed, it was a 180. He is a guy that has a supreme amount of confidence in himself. He has showed that in the command that he has displayed in that offense and I think he’s going to take another big step.”
In order to take another big step this year, Ewers says he’s still working on his leadership skills.
“One of the main things for me was to become more of a steady leader and a vocal leader,” Ewers said at the SEC Media Days. “If either of those two things, I really think that we’ll have a team that will know how to handle adversity and a team that will be mature enough to win big games and continue to be consistent.”
There is a subtle difference between that quote and the quotes from the Big 12 Media Days last year. Did you catch it?
During the Big 12 session, Ewers was talking about being a vocal leader because it was expected of him and he wanted to earn the trust of his teammates. During the SEC Media Days, Ewers is talking about improving his leadership because of the team goals. Not his goals, the team goals.
That’s leadership.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Ewers always puts the team ahead of personal goals.
“He's more focused on trying to win a championship, playing the best football he can play, being the best leader, the best teammate he can be,” Sarkisian said.
And as for his comfort level now? It’s been obvious to all, even the greatest all-time college coach.
“One thing that I see in Quinn Ewers is that he’s comfortable in his skin, which shows maturity in their team,” Nick Saban said on the set of the SEC Network during the media days. “I think that’s really important to team chemistry because everybody’s bought into the same things and that’s the only way you can have any team chemistry.”
But don’t take my word for it – or Nick Saban’s.
If a picture is worth a thousand words then this snapshot from @Sunny Nelson speaks volumes.
So will all of this work pay off for Ewers during the actual football season (and not the talking season)? It will ... big time.
WHAT ABOUT ON THE FIELD?
Once again, it is all about the growth. If Ewers has continued to mature and grow off the field, what makes anyone think that maturity and growth won’t continue on the field?
Certainly, Ewers is expecting more growth on the field. It’s why he decided not to enter the NFL Draft after last season.
“One of the main things for me was just getting more experience under my belt,” said Ewers. “There’s a kind of a line of demarcation for guys who really have success in the league. And obviously there’s some guys that have rare accounts of it not being this way. But there’s a line kind of at 25 starts that you really see a jump in how their career went. I just want to give myself a better chance to have a long and successful career in the NFL because I don’t want to be a guy that just comes and goes.”
Ewers didn’t pull that 25 starts number out of thin air. He has been shown data that says quarterbacks are much more likely to succeed in the NFL if they have at least 25 starts in college football.
The data just makes sense. The more a quarterback plays, the more he understands the coverages he’s facing and the faster he’s able to process information and make plays.
Plus, as Ewers told “The Next Round” podcast Wednesday, it’s not just the reps he’s gained so far, it’s another year of high-quality coaching.
“It’s like getting a PhD in quarterback play, being under Coach Sark,” Ewers said.
To date, it’s fair to say that Ewers has been greatly helped by having great playmakers on hand. Ewers completed nearly every pass last year to Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington and Ja’Tavion Sanders … all of whom are now getting ready for their first NFL training camps.
It’s a big reason why Ketch, and probably some of you as well, are so skeptical of a big jump in Ewers’ stats.
This year, it will have to be Ewers who is driving the offense. Sarkisian was practically gushing about that possibility while speaking with local reporters at the media days.
“I was on the grass with them yesterday watching these guys throw the ball around and it looks as good or better than before,” Sarkisian said. “It’s fascinating to watch, but I think that’s a byproduct when you have a veteran quarterback.”
And Sark says not to expect a dropoff from last year’s wide receiver group to this year.
“This group is very talented and by far and away our deepest receiver corps that we've had in four years,” said Sarkisian. “When you talk about Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Silas Bolden, three really good experienced football players that came from good football programs. We had signed a very good class the year before with Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore, and Ryan Niblett. Then with this incoming class, I think it's pretty fair to say Ryan Wingo is a really good player for us.”
One of the biggest questions heading into this season is how – or even if – we’ll see all of those players rotate through during game day. It’s a question Sark himself still isn’t sure what the answer will be.
“To think I've got seven quality players there,” Sarkisian said. “Now, is it going to be a seven-man rotation? That will bear itself out, but I do think we'll play more players than we have in the past, we'll rotate more guys than we probably have in the past, and then as we work ourselves through the season -- when you start playing this many games, I'd love to tell you we're not going to get injuries. Injuries are going to occur, so we're going to play more players probably early in the season than we have just because you don't have some of that experience that we lost from a year ago.”
It will take some time to figure out the receiver rotation, but no matter who lines up outside, it is going to be Quinn Ewers who drives the bus this year.
And between the growth off the field, with another year’s worth of experience in the offense and reading defenses and a replenished receiving corps … it all adds up to a record-breaking season for Quinn Ewers.
And you can bookmark this if you want.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS FROM MEDIA DAYS:
Buy your stock now on senior defensive end Barryn Sorrell.
We started the day with Sam Acho telling @Anwar Richardson that he had dinner with Sorrell last week and that the DE is dialed in and ready for a big season.
Later in the day, Quinn Ewers was asked about who he saw as being the leaders of the defense. Sarkisian also singled out Sorrell as one of the players that was standing out. And that was all capped with Kelvin Banks saying that Sorrell and fellow edge rusher Trey Moore were the two players who gave him the biggest fits in practice.
Add it all up and there seems to be genuine excitement about number 88 heading into fall camp.
##################################
There is exactly one week left in summer workouts. The team will have its final workout next Thursday, take five days off and then the first practice of fall camp will be on Wednesday, July 31st.
Football is almost here!
##################################
When the season does kick off, Sark says you can expect to see more of a rotation at all positions early in the year. That makes perfect sense. But what was really interesting to me is that he said you will see a rotation along the offensive line as well.
“If anything this season is going to require, it’s going to require depth,” Sarkisian said. “When you think about playing August 31st, week one, with the hopes and goals of playing January 20th, that’s a long way to go with more games in between. To think that we’re just going to walk through it unscathed is probably unrealistic. So we’re going to have to play more players early in the season and that’s not just at some of the positions you would think of. We’re going to have to play more offensive linemen early in the year to get them ready to play if they’re needed later in the year.”
“I’m confident in that because I do think we have a really talented roster, a really competitive roster, and those guys are earning that opportunity to get out there and play.”
I’m genuinely excited to see how the offensive line rotation breaks down and to see which guys have stepped up and are ready for playing time. In particular, I want to see Trevor Goosby get some actual game reps. I’ve been extremely high on him since he first committed.
##################################
Not to beat this dead horse, but while some of you are going to be surprised by Ewers this season, EA Sports may be in for a surprise as well. Ewers said it’s a pretty realistic game, but …
“There’s some similarities but I was playing it the other day and you know the throws that I know I can make, some of them aren’t being made. But it’s a really fun game.”
For the record, he beat OU in the game he was playing the night before media days.
TWEETS OF INTERST
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for the renewed rivalry with Arkansas. I feel like it isn’t getting as much love as it should because Arkansas left for the SEC so long ago … many younger fans don’t understand just how much hatred exists between the schools.
##################################
Is there anything more on brand than Lane Kiffin causing Sark to mute a group chat with former Saban coaches?
##################################
Finally, you think Texas coming to the SEC isn’t a big damn deal?
Each and every coach who has rolled through the SEC Media Days has been asked about Texas … not OU so much, but definitely Texas.
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