This is a very important point and dropped his stock more than anything else. Manning has better arm strength, throws a better long ball, is a good runner, and can sneak for a yard if need be.
Can you point me to the magical kicker rankings?
www.kohlskicking.com
None of what I said take away from appreciating Ewers being a leader on the team that brought us back or wishing him well in the future.
I can’t disagree. The offense was shell shocked. The OL stunk. The receivers ran wrong routes. Blitzes were not picked up. They seemed totally unprepared for what hit them.
With Ewers injury history combined with Tuas....they maybe have 2 guys who can play half a season each.
Needs DeAndre Moore to channel his best Matthew Golden. That’ll mostly take care of it.
Sark is implementing new offensive schemes to take advantage of the new skills that Arch brings to the table. The blocking schemes will change to more power, the passing game wil become more vertical so defenses can’t sit on the short throws, and Arch will be a true RPO threat and actually pull it when it’s wide open. Our red zone results will be much improved because we will be able to run the ball when we need to.
We already knew last year when he came back that the NFL wasn't going to be in the cards for him. And once we saw Arch this year in action, it was obvious he made the team better.
Great Affleck list. You may take crazy pills here and there, yet you're not crazy. GWH is the best movie, yet not Affleck's #1. \m/I'll be honest when I say that I don't really know what to say about what happened to Quinn Ewers this weekend.
There was a point on Saturday when some dude that plays quarterback from North Dakota State was drafted in front of the former unanimous No. 1 overall recruiting prospect. Two punters went in front of him. He wasn't even the first former Southlake Carroll alum to be selected. Hell, Garrett Gilbert and Sam Ehlinger both were drafted earlier than the 231st pick in the draft.
For all of the areas of concern that I have chronicled over the years with regards to Ewers, I couldn't have ever have imagined that the NFL would reject his accomplishments, upside and overall profile to such an emphatic degree.
It doesn't change what he was as a college player for the Longhorns, which includes an on-field legacy that has him ranked among the top five quarterbacks in the history of the program's modern era. He went to two straight final fours. That Big 12 Championship Game MVP belt is still in his possession. None of those things changed.
Yet, there's no guarantee that he's ever going to play in anything more than a preseason game ever again. Making the roster isn't an automatic. What comes with being a 7th-round selection is a dose of reality for Ewers that he has more work to do as a player than he ever could have realized if he wants to realize his dreams.
The truth of the matter is that we all know Ewers' weak areas as a player. We know he has to be more consistent with his mechanics. We know he needs to throw the deep ball better. We know he has to stop drifting away in games. We know he needs to stay healthy. The whys of how we ended up here really aren't a total mystery.
We've just never programmed our brain to think of him as anything other than a guy destined to be a high pick in the NFL Draft. That is who Ewers was supposed to be and it didn't happened, a reality that the NFL shouted in everyone's faces all weekend.
There's a lot to marinate on with regards to Ewers' situation, but maybe the biggest thing we can take from the Draft is that the NFL believes the Longhorns are about to be much, much better at the quarterback position going into the 2025 season.
As someone who believed that Arch Manning was the better quarterback option for the Longhorns last season, I'll be honest when I confess that I feel like the point I was making throughout the 2024 season was hammered home over the weekend. The quarterback last season simply wasn't good enough and when you take away all of the confirmation bias, what you're left with is quarterback play that the NFL viewed as less than remotely inspirational.
The saving grace in the decision to ride with Ewers in 2024 is that ...
a. It mostly worked.
b. Manning seems 100-percent committed to staying two more seasons.
That last point is the most significant one. As long as Manning stays for another two seasons, the decision to play Ewers over Manning has limited collateral damage beyond whatever you think might have happened at the end of the season if the Longhorns had received better than seventh-round play at the quarterback position. The key is receiving two starting seasons out of Manning and it looks like that is going to happen.
Yet, if Manning plays so well in 2025 that he is the unquestioned No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft and he has no choice but to go into the Draft, the decision-making involved in 2024 will be viewed as a mistake. It'll somewhat remind me of the decision to redshirt Earl Thomas in 2007, which meant Texas got only two seasons of play out of the best defensive back I've ever seen in a Texas uniform. I mean ... what exactly was the point?
Of course, if Texas wins a national title in 2025, no one will ever think about the decision made in 2024 in a negative light, as it'll be seen as part of the narrative involved in building an eventual championship outfit. If Texas comes close, but never touches the brass ring with Manning at quarterback, there will be some second-guessing over whether Texas missed its best shot over misplaced loyalty because it chased the dream of having its cake and eating it too (making Manning wait through Ewers for two full seasons without any consequences).
As for Ewers, the situation he's landed in isn't terrible. Although the guaranteed money will be much less than what he's earned in every season he played at Texas, it is a franchise that has both some instability at the starting position (Tua Tagovailoa's concussion history) and questions at the backup position (only Zach Wilson stands in his way). My guess is that the Dolphins will sign another backup at some point that gives them more stability behind Tagovailoa, but there's a real pathway for Ewers to make the roster if he impresses in camp. Hell, you can close your eyes and see him playing as a rookie because he makes the team and Tagovailoa can't stay healthy.
Yet, he's going to have to walk before he can run. He still has to prove he can play. He still has to prove that he can be better than a guy like Zach Wilson. He still has to prove that the Dolphins should be married to him at a time when they have virtually zero financial commitment to him.
Frankly, the thing that stands out to me is that Ewers' story ending so short of his dream coming true didn't have a real negative impact on the program. Quinn Ewers served Texas well and was a critical piece of the rebuild under Steve Sarkisian. The program couldn't be in a much better position.
The person all of this didn't quite work out for is Ewers. Somehow he started at Texas for three seasons, played in national semi-finals and still came away with questions about whether he should have transferred to a third school for another year because of uneven play on the field that a quarterbacking guru in Sarkisian couldn't ever quite get on track.
It was kind of soul-crushing to see Ewers' body language and facial expressions after being drafted in the 7th round. You could just see the pain all over his entire presence as a human. It'll be a lasting image for a while. Here's hoping there's a peak out there in his pro career one day that's a complete 180-degree turn from that exact moment.
For better or worse, this weekend served as the final unofficial sunset from the Ewers Era into Manning's time as the focal point of the program.
What happened this weekend happened and is now over. It is what it is. If you spend too much time worried about whether Manning should have played more in 2024, you might lose sight of the fact that he's likely only going to be on campus for another 20-21 months ... at most. Enjoy it. Drink it up.
I suppose the best part of landing back-to-back No. 1 overall quarterback prospects is that if you even slightly miss on the first guy, you've got an insurance policy lined up and ready to go for a second chance to live up to the considerable expectations.
Kind of like when Chris Simms left the program in 2002, just as a guy named Vince Young arrived and proved that he was the real prince that was promised.
Maybe this is just history repeating itself.
No. 2 - Other UT-themed Draft Thoughts ...
... Stop what you're doing right now and watch this clip.
... Anyone else get the feeling that Green Bay is about to be involved in a total love affair with Matthew Golden? That franchise has been dying for a first-round pick like Golden to come in and hold down the WR1 role for the next decade. I think this kid is going to be the best wide receiver the school has ever produced.
... Jaydon Blue might have wanted to go in a higher position in the draft, but landing with the Cowboys is a dream spot, as he's exactly what that running back room needs. I expect him to have a large role in the offense as a rookie.
... Tom Herman leaving this program zero offensive linemen worth a damn, but loaded with six future NFL drafted defensive tackles, is one of the true bizarre truths about his legacy. The good could be really good and the bad could be extremely awful.
... Andrew Mukuba just feels like a Philadelphia Eagles player and it pains me to type that out.
... Jake Majors might have gone undrafted, but the Bucs gave him $260,000 of guaranteed money as part of his priority free agent deal, which is a strong indication that he'll have a chance to make that team coming out of camp. At the very least, he's likely a lock to make the practice squad.
.... I don't know what to say about the Isaiah Bond situation. If he did what is alleged of him, he's only beginning to get what is deserved. If he's not guilty of what is alleged, this weekend will represent one of the great missed opportunities of his life. Even if all of this is cleared up in the next week, he's lost money that can never be recovered. The best-case at this point is earning the league minimum for a few years. He's a full cautionary tale at this point.
... Here's a look at every quarterback in the history of the Rivals that were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 overall nationally (not including players who still have eligibility remaining) and where they were selected in the Draft:
No. 1 in 2018: Trevor Lawrence (No. 1 overall in 2021)
No. 2 in 2020: Bryce Young (No. 1 overall in 2023)
No. 1 in 2002: Vince Young (No. 3 overall in 2006)
No. 2 in 2015: Josh Rosen (No. 10 overall in 2018)
No. 2 in 2018: Justin Fields (No. 11 overall in 2021)
No. 1 in 2007: Jimmy Clausen (No. 48 overall in 2010)
No. 1 in 2008: Terrelle Pryor (3rd round supplemental)
No. 1 in 2021: Quinn Ewers (No. 231 in 2025)
No. 3 – And then there were two (scholarships available) ...
Well, for better or worse, the Transfer Portal is closed.
What's in is in and what isn't in can't get in unless there's a head coaching change or a lawsuit in the next seven months.
For the Longhorns, the following is true of the roster change in the last two weeks:
a. The Longhorns lost four players, none of whom the Texas coaches were sweating over even a little.
b. The Longhorns improved at wide receiver, tight end, defensive tackle and kicker through additions in the Portal.
c. The Longhorns are sitting at 83 scholarships, which means that they have two spots left that they can use in the Portal to try and improve the roster before the start of the season.
Barring something unfortunate happening off the field in the next few months, the numbers are the numbers. The smart money probably has the Longhorns looking to get in on a wide receiver or the best player available with these last couple of slots, but it's a pretty barren talent landscape.
I can't honestly say that there's an obvious target out there that makes the 2025 Longhorns significantly better. I could make a case that a guy like North Carolina linebacker Amare Campbell would improve the linebackers. Same for Rutgers linebacker Mohamed Toure if he's 100-percent back from an ACL repair. Maybe a receiver like Incarnate Word's Roy Alexander or Georgia State's Ted Hurst. Maybe there's a special teams player out there.
Basically, we're at the point where what you see is what you get. From what I can see, the Longhorns look like a national championship contender.
No. 4 – Solving Bo Davis' Mess ...
In each of the last two off-seasons, Kenny Baker and the Texas coaching staff have needed to address massive personnel deficiencies at defensive tackle by going all-out in the Portal for able bodies.
How all-in?
Seven. Three last year and four this year. Actually ... hold on. I lost count. The number is actually EIGHT. Three last year and an unreal five this year. This is what it looks like when your last defensive tackle hit in recruiting came in the Tom Herman era.
The good news for the Longhorns is that Baker and Sarkisian have been able to address the crisis in a way that should have the Longhorns in a position to complete the desperation act one final time this season. Three of the five defensive tackle additions this off-season have multiple years of eligibility remaining, which means that the Longhorns have a chance to arrive in the 2026 off-season with a stacked group.
Check out what the group looks like in paper going into 2026 ...
Seniors: Hero Kanu and Lavon Johnson
Juniors: Alex January and Maraad Watson
Sophomores: Justus Terry, Myron Charles, Josiah Sharma and Melvin Hills (third-year)
That's eight guys, five of whom should have pretty extensive playing experience. Barring something unforeseen, the Longhorns look pretty loaded going into Arch Manning's likely final season in Austin.
No. 5 – NO. MORE. HIGH. SCHOOL. KICKERS.
I promise that a kicker at McCallum High School didn't take a girlfriend of mine back in the early 90s. Neither did Phil Dawson while I was a student at Texas ... that I am aware of.
I double promise.
All of this needs to be said in advance because what I'm about to say next will sound like I definitely had a girl taken from me by a member of the Gramatica family ... but ... I really don't ever need to see Texas take another punter or kicker from the high school ranks again. Oh, I suppose I'll make an exception for a Justin Tucker if you really think you've got a Justin Tucker on your hands, but outside of that kind of extreme situation ...
Never. Again.
There's just no need to take the risks in the NIL Era that the Longhorns currently reside in. Why would you ever do what the Longhorns did a year ago when they entrusted the punt game to a true freshman punter that wasn't even an early arrival in the spring? Why would you dare take a risk when you can just take a Ryan Sanborn from Stanford? Or a Jack Bouwmeester from Utah? Or a Mason Shipley from Texas State?
Just go get the best guy available in the Portal every single year if needed and never take a gamble because the math on hitting a kicker/punter in the high school ranks is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Consider the 2020 kicking class from across the nation ...
These were the only five kickers ranked on the national level by Rivals in 2020. Only one of them even remotely made it beyond a year or two at the school they originally signed with and that's current NFL kicker Joshua Karty, who was the last guy ranked on the list. Everyone else flamed out.
At absolute best ... and I mean at best ... you're hoping for a 20% hit rate when they arrive from the high school ranks. Let's look at what Texas done since I've covered the Longhorns. It starts with a very famous example.
1999 - Shane Hudnall - Tyler Lee - Rivals actually rated Hudnall as a 5-star prospect ... I shit you not ... when he committed to the Longhorns. Same as Chris Simms and Cory Redding. He was an early enroller in the spring of 1999 and left campus after a single semester because he wanted to play wide receiver. He ended up transferring to TCU and pretty much did neither.
2000 - Justin Smith - Midland Lee - Was on the roster for a couple of seasons before departing.
2000 - Matt McFadden - Coppell - Was on the roster for a couple of seasons before departing.
2006 - Hunter Lawrence - Boerne - Became an eventual starter in 2008 and 2009, most famously making the kick that won Texas the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game.
2008 - Justin Tucker - Austin Westlake - GOAT.
2010 - William Russ - Shreveport Evangel - Played in 15 career games, averaging a mere 42.3 yards per punt as a punter as a senior in 2014.
2012 - Nick Jordan - Coppell - Served as the backup kicker for most of his four-year career, never seeing any action in his final three seasons.
2015 - Michael Dickson - Melbourne, Australia - Signed very late in the 2015 class and ended up being one of the best punters in the history of the program.
2017 - Joshua Rowland - Mississippi Gulf Coast CC - Played as a transfer in 2017, but lost the job because of ineffectiveness and eventually transferred to Texas State.
2018 - Ryan Bujcevski - Melbourne, Australia - Never emerged as a player that was good enough for the Longhorns to lean on consistently with quality play and he didn't play as a senior.
2018 - Cameron Dicker - Lake Travis - Finished as the school's all-time leading scorer at place-kicker when his career ended, while also earning first-team All-Big 12 honors at punter as a senior.
2021 - Isaac Pearson - Melbourne, Australia - Played in one career game before transferring.
2022 - Will Stone - Served as a kickoff specialist through the first three seasons on scholarship.
2024 - Michael Kern - After an injury-plagued, uneven season as a freshman, transferred in the spring semester of his second season.
That's basically a 4 out of 14 hit rate over a quarter of a century - with the hits only coming in 2006, 2008, 2015 and 2018. It's just a mathematical disadvantage you don't have to put yourself in voluntarily when you have the means to simply poach a proven player any time you want to.
Never again ... unless he's from Austin Westlake or Lake Travis.
No. 6 - Texas Football Scattershooting ...
... It feels like the wide receiver rotation going into the season is going to feature Ryan Wingo, DeAndre Moore, Emmett Mosley, Parker Livingstone and a little bit of freshmen Jaime Ffrench and Daylan McCutcheon. The roles inside of that group will need to be sorted out, but those are the key figures going into the summer. One interesting element of this group is that it could all return to the fold again in 2026. Only Moore is draft-eligible following the season.
... The battle at backup quarterback is going to be interesting to watch behind the scenes. Both Trey Owens and KJ Lacey have fans in the building.
... I still don't completely know what to make of the running game roles in the fall. I'm guessing they kind of make it up as they go.
... You get the sense that the next seven months are everything for Melvin Hills. With so many players in front of him and so many young players having arrived, the pressure will be on to carve out a role for the 2026 season.
... SEC Spring Football Portal Departures (Thru Friday):
0: Alabama
1: LSU
2: Florida and Texas A&M
4: Georgia and Texas
5: Oklahoma
6: Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt
7: Arkansas and Missouri
8: Kentucky and Mississippi State
9: Ole Miss
... The Longhorns did not have their first player selected in the NFL Draft until the league's third draft in 1938. The answer to the trivia question? Fullback Hugh Wolfe, who won an NFL title with the Giants in 1938.
No. 7 - The Aggies got run over by a train ...
Texas A&M came into this weekend thinking that they wanted all of the smoke.
Like every Aggie that has ever lived, the Aggies baseball team found out the hard way that its place in the pecking order of life will always be behind the stronger, more handsome, better-at-everything-but-animal-husbandry sibling in all of the ways that matter in life.
Including baseball. Especially baseball.
With its new coach residing in the dugout he dearly prefers, the Longhorns went out and handled it business once again with a three-game sweep of an another SEC opponent. It's just what this team does. As a byproduct of one sweep after another, the Longhorns now have a 5-game lead in the dog-eat-dog SEC. A championship in season one of a new conference is within reach.
All the Aggies could do is think fondly on the life that used to exist, before Texas took its coach and it's baseball momentum like the Aggies were just keeping it warm for them. Of course, it was a fleeting 15 minutes, but a fleeting 15 minutes it was.
Now they are back where good Aggies reside, which in this case would be 12th in the conference.
Pooooooooooooooor Aggies, indeed.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I was surprised that Major and Hayden Conner were both not drafted.
(Sell) I think there's a chance he makes the team, but the Dolphins are not going to go into next season with Zach Wilson and Ewers as their primary backup option. There's a better chance that he doesn't make the team than there is that he's the second in line to start for the Dolphins.
(Buy) I didn't expect what he's done this season. It's overwhelmingly impressive.
(Buy) I think the 2027 Draft is going to set records.
(Sell) No offense to Volantis, but Street is in his own galaxy.
(Sell) I don't think he'll quite lead the team in rushing.
(Sell) I'm hoping he's a quality contributor coming off of a major injury in 2025.
(Sell) It wasn't just one or two things with Ewers. It was a lot of stuff that added up together to create his situation.
(Buy) Of course.
(Buy) Without question in my mind.
(Buy) 100-percent
(Sell) It hasn't even crossed my mind. There's more work to be done!
(Sell) Mildly surprised. Big guys were in demand all weekend, so him going high made sense.
(Sell) I think Mack walks into the bar and avoids having to talk to me if he can.
(Buy) Quinn counts as a hit as it relates to being an NFL drafted player, but he'll be remembered as one of the biggest recruiting busts (when it comes to comes to projecting to the NFL) in the history of recruiting.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... After all these years, I think we can safely say that Mel Kiper's prime is in the rear-view mirror in a way that suggests that maybe ESPN considers taking him away from active big dog status. The Shedeur Sanders thing is never going to go away ... it's part of what he's going to be remember for. He stood on the table for a player drafted in the 5th round for the No. 1 overall pick ... mere moments before the pick and then chased his tail for the next three days.
... Sanders being drafted in the 5th round by a team that invested 3rd round draft capital into Dillon Gabriel feels like a bad situation to be walking into. That guy is going to be on a practice squad after Labor Day.
... I still don't understand Will Campbell being drafted ahead of Kelvin Banks. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
... Still can't believe what is happening with Justin Tucker ... good grief.
... Am I allowed to say that I didn't really like the Texans Draft? Did they really like Iowa State's passing attack so much that they had to have all of it in the first 80 picks?
... Consider me perfectly fine with the Dallas draft. I loved the Blue pick, semi-respect the pick of Tyler Booker in the first round and am not really sure how I feel about what they did in the second and third rounds. Does it really matter? We're not going anywhere or doing anything. Bah hum-bug.
... Hey, I finally watched some NBA playoffs this weekend!
... Premier League Randomness: YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!
... lolololol
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 Ben Affleck ...
A week ago, it was the other side of the Matt and Ben partnership. I found myself wondering whether anything could take down Good Will Hunting? Where does Argo fit into all of this? What about Dazed and Confused?
I'm kind of surprised I've never done a Ben List until now. Let's get to it.
Honorable Mention: Chasing Amy, The Tender Bar, Shakespeare in Love, Dogma, The Sum of All Fears, The Accountant, School Ties, Mallrats, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League
10. The Way Back
One of the best and most underrated sports movies from the 2000s.
9. Air
Ben Affleck as Phil Knight is absolutely classic.
8. Pearl Harbor
A guilty pleasure that I will not be ashamed for liking. Do not judge me.
7. The Last Duel
A completely underrated beauty of a film from just a couple of years ago.
6. Armageddon
Any reason to remind everyone that this DVD commentary exists is a good reason.
5. Gone Girl
This wasn't just a movie when it came out in 2014, it was an event.
4. Dazed and Confused
All these years later, his performance as O'Bannion seems to get better like a fine wine.
3. Argo
Ho-hum, it's just Affleck starring and directing in a Best Picture winner.
2. Good Will Hunting
If we ignore the fact that he's the fourth lead in the movie behind Matt Damon, Robin Williams and Minnie Driver, then this can slide right into the No. 1 spot. It is the movie that made his career.
1. The Town
Call me crazy, but this is the No. 1 Ben Affleck movie and I'll stand on a table defending my selection. It's one of the best crime thrillers of this century. It's a near-perfect movie.
The Town was perfect and told its story. There wasn’t really anywhere to go. What? Come back for a romance?
we communicate about this in the past i think but i make up i can recall comments with Ketch than Ketch can with individual OBers.
We saw the Accountant 2 over the weekend and absolutely loved it! It was a rare sequel that was equal or better than the original. Having more of his brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) really made this movie great! The brotherly dynamics were great!
They are very pot committed to Wilson. He's got 6 mil guaranteed.
I read it all man. Good stuff. Just didn’t see anything about the last scrimmage which was what I was asking about
Saw the 2nd one on Saturday and liked it better than the 1rst mainly to do with the back and forth between Affleck and Bernthal. Put it on your list to see Ketch!
Me too! I can't wait to see him in Season 2 of Daredevil, and hope we get another Punisher series.
Too much pride for everyone involved to go that route.
That Armageddon commentary is fantastic.I'll be honest when I say that I don't really know what to say about what happened to Quinn Ewers this weekend.
There was a point on Saturday when some dude that plays quarterback from North Dakota State was drafted in front of the former unanimous No. 1 overall recruiting prospect. Two punters went in front of him. He wasn't even the first former Southlake Carroll alum to be selected. Hell, Garrett Gilbert and Sam Ehlinger both were drafted earlier than the 231st pick in the draft.
For all of the areas of concern that I have chronicled over the years with regards to Ewers, I couldn't have ever have imagined that the NFL would reject his accomplishments, upside and overall profile to such an emphatic degree.
It doesn't change what he was as a college player for the Longhorns, which includes an on-field legacy that has him ranked among the top five quarterbacks in the history of the program's modern era. He went to two straight final fours. That Big 12 Championship Game MVP belt is still in his possession. None of those things changed.
Yet, there's no guarantee that he's ever going to play in anything more than a preseason game ever again. Making the roster isn't an automatic. What comes with being a 7th-round selection is a dose of reality for Ewers that he has more work to do as a player than he ever could have realized if he wants to realize his dreams.
The truth of the matter is that we all know Ewers' weak areas as a player. We know he has to be more consistent with his mechanics. We know he needs to throw the deep ball better. We know he has to stop drifting away in games. We know he needs to stay healthy. The whys of how we ended up here really aren't a total mystery.
We've just never programmed our brain to think of him as anything other than a guy destined to be a high pick in the NFL Draft. That is who Ewers was supposed to be and it didn't happened, a reality that the NFL shouted in everyone's faces all weekend.
There's a lot to marinate on with regards to Ewers' situation, but maybe the biggest thing we can take from the Draft is that the NFL believes the Longhorns are about to be much, much better at the quarterback position going into the 2025 season.
As someone who believed that Arch Manning was the better quarterback option for the Longhorns last season, I'll be honest when I confess that I feel like the point I was making throughout the 2024 season was hammered home over the weekend. The quarterback last season simply wasn't good enough and when you take away all of the confirmation bias, what you're left with is quarterback play that the NFL viewed as less than remotely inspirational.
The saving grace in the decision to ride with Ewers in 2024 is that ...
a. It mostly worked.
b. Manning seems 100-percent committed to staying two more seasons.
That last point is the most significant one. As long as Manning stays for another two seasons, the decision to play Ewers over Manning has limited collateral damage beyond whatever you think might have happened at the end of the season if the Longhorns had received better than seventh-round play at the quarterback position. The key is receiving two starting seasons out of Manning and it looks like that is going to happen.
Yet, if Manning plays so well in 2025 that he is the unquestioned No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft and he has no choice but to go into the Draft, the decision-making involved in 2024 will be viewed as a mistake. It'll somewhat remind me of the decision to redshirt Earl Thomas in 2007, which meant Texas got only two seasons of play out of the best defensive back I've ever seen in a Texas uniform. I mean ... what exactly was the point?
Of course, if Texas wins a national title in 2025, no one will ever think about the decision made in 2024 in a negative light, as it'll be seen as part of the narrative involved in building an eventual championship outfit. If Texas comes close, but never touches the brass ring with Manning at quarterback, there will be some second-guessing over whether Texas missed its best shot over misplaced loyalty because it chased the dream of having its cake and eating it too (making Manning wait through Ewers for two full seasons without any consequences).
As for Ewers, the situation he's landed in isn't terrible. Although the guaranteed money will be much less than what he's earned in every season he played at Texas, it is a franchise that has both some instability at the starting position (Tua Tagovailoa's concussion history) and questions at the backup position (only Zach Wilson stands in his way). My guess is that the Dolphins will sign another backup at some point that gives them more stability behind Tagovailoa, but there's a real pathway for Ewers to make the roster if he impresses in camp. Hell, you can close your eyes and see him playing as a rookie because he makes the team and Tagovailoa can't stay healthy.
Yet, he's going to have to walk before he can run. He still has to prove he can play. He still has to prove that he can be better than a guy like Zach Wilson. He still has to prove that the Dolphins should be married to him at a time when they have virtually zero financial commitment to him.
Frankly, the thing that stands out to me is that Ewers' story ending so short of his dream coming true didn't have a real negative impact on the program. Quinn Ewers served Texas well and was a critical piece of the rebuild under Steve Sarkisian. The program couldn't be in a much better position.
The person all of this didn't quite work out for is Ewers. Somehow he started at Texas for three seasons, played in national semi-finals and still came away with questions about whether he should have transferred to a third school for another year because of uneven play on the field that a quarterbacking guru in Sarkisian couldn't ever quite get on track.
It was kind of soul-crushing to see Ewers' body language and facial expressions after being drafted in the 7th round. You could just see the pain all over his entire presence as a human. It'll be a lasting image for a while. Here's hoping there's a peak out there in his pro career one day that's a complete 180-degree turn from that exact moment.
For better or worse, this weekend served as the final unofficial sunset from the Ewers Era into Manning's time as the focal point of the program.
What happened this weekend happened and is now over. It is what it is. If you spend too much time worried about whether Manning should have played more in 2024, you might lose sight of the fact that he's likely only going to be on campus for another 20-21 months ... at most. Enjoy it. Drink it up.
I suppose the best part of landing back-to-back No. 1 overall quarterback prospects is that if you even slightly miss on the first guy, you've got an insurance policy lined up and ready to go for a second chance to live up to the considerable expectations.
Kind of like when Chris Simms left the program in 2002, just as a guy named Vince Young arrived and proved that he was the real prince that was promised.
Maybe this is just history repeating itself.
No. 2 - Other UT-themed Draft Thoughts ...
... Stop what you're doing right now and watch this clip.
... Anyone else get the feeling that Green Bay is about to be involved in a total love affair with Matthew Golden? That franchise has been dying for a first-round pick like Golden to come in and hold down the WR1 role for the next decade. I think this kid is going to be the best wide receiver the school has ever produced.
... Jaydon Blue might have wanted to go in a higher position in the draft, but landing with the Cowboys is a dream spot, as he's exactly what that running back room needs. I expect him to have a large role in the offense as a rookie.
... Tom Herman leaving this program zero offensive linemen worth a damn, but loaded with six future NFL drafted defensive tackles, is one of the true bizarre truths about his legacy. The good could be really good and the bad could be extremely awful.
... Andrew Mukuba just feels like a Philadelphia Eagles player and it pains me to type that out.
... Jake Majors might have gone undrafted, but the Bucs gave him $260,000 of guaranteed money as part of his priority free agent deal, which is a strong indication that he'll have a chance to make that team coming out of camp. At the very least, he's likely a lock to make the practice squad.
.... I don't know what to say about the Isaiah Bond situation. If he did what is alleged of him, he's only beginning to get what is deserved. If he's not guilty of what is alleged, this weekend will represent one of the great missed opportunities of his life. Even if all of this is cleared up in the next week, he's lost money that can never be recovered. The best-case at this point is earning the league minimum for a few years. He's a full cautionary tale at this point.
... Here's a look at every quarterback in the history of the Rivals that were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 overall nationally (not including players who still have eligibility remaining) and where they were selected in the Draft:
No. 1 in 2018: Trevor Lawrence (No. 1 overall in 2021)
No. 2 in 2020: Bryce Young (No. 1 overall in 2023)
No. 1 in 2002: Vince Young (No. 3 overall in 2006)
No. 2 in 2015: Josh Rosen (No. 10 overall in 2018)
No. 2 in 2018: Justin Fields (No. 11 overall in 2021)
No. 1 in 2007: Jimmy Clausen (No. 48 overall in 2010)
No. 1 in 2008: Terrelle Pryor (3rd round supplemental)
No. 1 in 2021: Quinn Ewers (No. 231 in 2025)
No. 3 – And then there were two (scholarships available) ...
Well, for better or worse, the Transfer Portal is closed.
What's in is in and what isn't in can't get in unless there's a head coaching change or a lawsuit in the next seven months.
For the Longhorns, the following is true of the roster change in the last two weeks:
a. The Longhorns lost four players, none of whom the Texas coaches were sweating over even a little.
b. The Longhorns improved at wide receiver, tight end, defensive tackle and kicker through additions in the Portal.
c. The Longhorns are sitting at 83 scholarships, which means that they have two spots left that they can use in the Portal to try and improve the roster before the start of the season.
Barring something unfortunate happening off the field in the next few months, the numbers are the numbers. The smart money probably has the Longhorns looking to get in on a wide receiver or the best player available with these last couple of slots, but it's a pretty barren talent landscape.
I can't honestly say that there's an obvious target out there that makes the 2025 Longhorns significantly better. I could make a case that a guy like North Carolina linebacker Amare Campbell would improve the linebackers. Same for Rutgers linebacker Mohamed Toure if he's 100-percent back from an ACL repair. Maybe a receiver like Incarnate Word's Roy Alexander or Georgia State's Ted Hurst. Maybe there's a special teams player out there.
Basically, we're at the point where what you see is what you get. From what I can see, the Longhorns look like a national championship contender.
No. 4 – Solving Bo Davis' Mess ...
In each of the last two off-seasons, Kenny Baker and the Texas coaching staff have needed to address massive personnel deficiencies at defensive tackle by going all-out in the Portal for able bodies.
How all-in?
Seven. Three last year and four this year. Actually ... hold on. I lost count. The number is actually EIGHT. Three last year and an unreal five this year. This is what it looks like when your last defensive tackle hit in recruiting came in the Tom Herman era.
The good news for the Longhorns is that Baker and Sarkisian have been able to address the crisis in a way that should have the Longhorns in a position to complete the desperation act one final time this season. Three of the five defensive tackle additions this off-season have multiple years of eligibility remaining, which means that the Longhorns have a chance to arrive in the 2026 off-season with a stacked group.
Check out what the group looks like in paper going into 2026 ...
Seniors: Hero Kanu and Lavon Johnson
Juniors: Alex January and Maraad Watson
Sophomores: Justus Terry, Myron Charles, Josiah Sharma and Melvin Hills (third-year)
That's eight guys, five of whom should have pretty extensive playing experience. Barring something unforeseen, the Longhorns look pretty loaded going into Arch Manning's likely final season in Austin.
No. 5 – NO. MORE. HIGH. SCHOOL. KICKERS.
I promise that a kicker at McCallum High School didn't take a girlfriend of mine back in the early 90s. Neither did Phil Dawson while I was a student at Texas ... that I am aware of.
I double promise.
All of this needs to be said in advance because what I'm about to say next will sound like I definitely had a girl taken from me by a member of the Gramatica family ... but ... I really don't ever need to see Texas take another punter or kicker from the high school ranks again. Oh, I suppose I'll make an exception for a Justin Tucker if you really think you've got a Justin Tucker on your hands, but outside of that kind of extreme situation ...
Never. Again.
There's just no need to take the risks in the NIL Era that the Longhorns currently reside in. Why would you ever do what the Longhorns did a year ago when they entrusted the punt game to a true freshman punter that wasn't even an early arrival in the spring? Why would you dare take a risk when you can just take a Ryan Sanborn from Stanford? Or a Jack Bouwmeester from Utah? Or a Mason Shipley from Texas State?
Just go get the best guy available in the Portal every single year if needed and never take a gamble because the math on hitting a kicker/punter in the high school ranks is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Consider the 2020 kicking class from across the nation ...
These were the only five kickers ranked on the national level by Rivals in 2020. Only one of them even remotely made it beyond a year or two at the school they originally signed with and that's current NFL kicker Joshua Karty, who was the last guy ranked on the list. Everyone else flamed out.
At absolute best ... and I mean at best ... you're hoping for a 20% hit rate when they arrive from the high school ranks. Let's look at what Texas done since I've covered the Longhorns. It starts with a very famous example.
1999 - Shane Hudnall - Tyler Lee - Rivals actually rated Hudnall as a 5-star prospect ... I shit you not ... when he committed to the Longhorns. Same as Chris Simms and Cory Redding. He was an early enroller in the spring of 1999 and left campus after a single semester because he wanted to play wide receiver. He ended up transferring to TCU and pretty much did neither.
2000 - Justin Smith - Midland Lee - Was on the roster for a couple of seasons before departing.
2000 - Matt McFadden - Coppell - Was on the roster for a couple of seasons before departing.
2006 - Hunter Lawrence - Boerne - Became an eventual starter in 2008 and 2009, most famously making the kick that won Texas the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game.
2008 - Justin Tucker - Austin Westlake - GOAT.
2010 - William Russ - Shreveport Evangel - Played in 15 career games, averaging a mere 42.3 yards per punt as a punter as a senior in 2014.
2012 - Nick Jordan - Coppell - Served as the backup kicker for most of his four-year career, never seeing any action in his final three seasons.
2015 - Michael Dickson - Melbourne, Australia - Signed very late in the 2015 class and ended up being one of the best punters in the history of the program.
2017 - Joshua Rowland - Mississippi Gulf Coast CC - Played as a transfer in 2017, but lost the job because of ineffectiveness and eventually transferred to Texas State.
2018 - Ryan Bujcevski - Melbourne, Australia - Never emerged as a player that was good enough for the Longhorns to lean on consistently with quality play and he didn't play as a senior.
2018 - Cameron Dicker - Lake Travis - Finished as the school's all-time leading scorer at place-kicker when his career ended, while also earning first-team All-Big 12 honors at punter as a senior.
2021 - Isaac Pearson - Melbourne, Australia - Played in one career game before transferring.
2022 - Will Stone - Served as a kickoff specialist through the first three seasons on scholarship.
2024 - Michael Kern - After an injury-plagued, uneven season as a freshman, transferred in the spring semester of his second season.
That's basically a 4 out of 14 hit rate over a quarter of a century - with the hits only coming in 2006, 2008, 2015 and 2018. It's just a mathematical disadvantage you don't have to put yourself in voluntarily when you have the means to simply poach a proven player any time you want to.
Never again ... unless he's from Austin Westlake or Lake Travis.
No. 6 - Texas Football Scattershooting ...
... It feels like the wide receiver rotation going into the season is going to feature Ryan Wingo, DeAndre Moore, Emmett Mosley, Parker Livingstone and a little bit of freshmen Jaime Ffrench and Daylan McCutcheon. The roles inside of that group will need to be sorted out, but those are the key figures going into the summer. One interesting element of this group is that it could all return to the fold again in 2026. Only Moore is draft-eligible following the season.
... The battle at backup quarterback is going to be interesting to watch behind the scenes. Both Trey Owens and KJ Lacey have fans in the building.
... I still don't completely know what to make of the running game roles in the fall. I'm guessing they kind of make it up as they go.
... You get the sense that the next seven months are everything for Melvin Hills. With so many players in front of him and so many young players having arrived, the pressure will be on to carve out a role for the 2026 season.
... SEC Spring Football Portal Departures (Thru Friday):
0: Alabama
1: LSU
2: Florida and Texas A&M
4: Georgia and Texas
5: Oklahoma
6: Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt
7: Arkansas and Missouri
8: Kentucky and Mississippi State
9: Ole Miss
... The Longhorns did not have their first player selected in the NFL Draft until the league's third draft in 1938. The answer to the trivia question? Fullback Hugh Wolfe, who won an NFL title with the Giants in 1938.
No. 7 - The Aggies got run over by a train ...
Texas A&M came into this weekend thinking that they wanted all of the smoke.
Like every Aggie that has ever lived, the Aggies baseball team found out the hard way that its place in the pecking order of life will always be behind the stronger, more handsome, better-at-everything-but-animal-husbandry sibling in all of the ways that matter in life.
Including baseball. Especially baseball.
With its new coach residing in the dugout he dearly prefers, the Longhorns went out and handled it business once again with a three-game sweep of an another SEC opponent. It's just what this team does. As a byproduct of one sweep after another, the Longhorns now have a 5-game lead in the dog-eat-dog SEC. A championship in season one of a new conference is within reach.
All the Aggies could do is think fondly on the life that used to exist, before Texas took its coach and it's baseball momentum like the Aggies were just keeping it warm for them. Of course, it was a fleeting 15 minutes, but a fleeting 15 minutes it was.
Now they are back where good Aggies reside, which in this case would be 12th in the conference.
Pooooooooooooooor Aggies, indeed.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I was surprised that Major and Hayden Conner were both not drafted.
(Sell) I think there's a chance he makes the team, but the Dolphins are not going to go into next season with Zach Wilson and Ewers as their primary backup option. There's a better chance that he doesn't make the team than there is that he's the second in line to start for the Dolphins.
(Buy) I didn't expect what he's done this season. It's overwhelmingly impressive.
(Buy) I think the 2027 Draft is going to set records.
(Sell) No offense to Volantis, but Street is in his own galaxy.
(Sell) I don't think he'll quite lead the team in rushing.
(Sell) I'm hoping he's a quality contributor coming off of a major injury in 2025.
(Sell) It wasn't just one or two things with Ewers. It was a lot of stuff that added up together to create his situation.
(Buy) Of course.
(Buy) Without question in my mind.
(Buy) 100-percent
(Sell) It hasn't even crossed my mind. There's more work to be done!
(Sell) Mildly surprised. Big guys were in demand all weekend, so him going high made sense.
(Sell) I think Mack walks into the bar and avoids having to talk to me if he can.
(Buy) Quinn counts as a hit as it relates to being an NFL drafted player, but he'll be remembered as one of the biggest recruiting busts (when it comes to comes to projecting to the NFL) in the history of recruiting.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... After all these years, I think we can safely say that Mel Kiper's prime is in the rear-view mirror in a way that suggests that maybe ESPN considers taking him away from active big dog status. The Shedeur Sanders thing is never going to go away ... it's part of what he's going to be remember for. He stood on the table for a player drafted in the 5th round for the No. 1 overall pick ... mere moments before the pick and then chased his tail for the next three days.
... Sanders being drafted in the 5th round by a team that invested 3rd round draft capital into Dillon Gabriel feels like a bad situation to be walking into. That guy is going to be on a practice squad after Labor Day.
... I still don't understand Will Campbell being drafted ahead of Kelvin Banks. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
... Still can't believe what is happening with Justin Tucker ... good grief.
... Am I allowed to say that I didn't really like the Texans Draft? Did they really like Iowa State's passing attack so much that they had to have all of it in the first 80 picks?
... Consider me perfectly fine with the Dallas draft. I loved the Blue pick, semi-respect the pick of Tyler Booker in the first round and am not really sure how I feel about what they did in the second and third rounds. Does it really matter? We're not going anywhere or doing anything. Bah hum-bug.
... Hey, I finally watched some NBA playoffs this weekend!
... Premier League Randomness: YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!
... lolololol
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 Ben Affleck ...
A week ago, it was the other side of the Matt and Ben partnership. I found myself wondering whether anything could take down Good Will Hunting? Where does Argo fit into all of this? What about Dazed and Confused?
I'm kind of surprised I've never done a Ben List until now. Let's get to it.
Honorable Mention: Chasing Amy, The Tender Bar, Shakespeare in Love, Dogma, The Sum of All Fears, The Accountant, School Ties, Mallrats, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League
10. The Way Back
One of the best and most underrated sports movies from the 2000s.
9. Air
Ben Affleck as Phil Knight is absolutely classic.
8. Pearl Harbor
A guilty pleasure that I will not be ashamed for liking. Do not judge me.
7. The Last Duel
A completely underrated beauty of a film from just a couple of years ago.
6. Armageddon
Any reason to remind everyone that this DVD commentary exists is a good reason.
5. Gone Girl
This wasn't just a movie when it came out in 2014, it was an event.
4. Dazed and Confused
All these years later, his performance as O'Bannion seems to get better like a fine wine.
3. Argo
Ho-hum, it's just Affleck starring and directing in a Best Picture winner.
2. Good Will Hunting
If we ignore the fact that he's the fourth lead in the movie behind Matt Damon, Robin Williams and Minnie Driver, then this can slide right into the No. 1 spot. It is the movie that made his career.
1. The Town
Call me crazy, but this is the No. 1 Ben Affleck movie and I'll stand on a table defending my selection. It's one of the best crime thrillers of this century. It's a near-perfect movie.
