Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (What we KNOW about Quinn/Arch)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
Woah, that Steve Martin clip about John Candy? I didn't know any of that; thanks for sharing.
Of course he does Anwar.
He put Arch and Trey ray out there because they didn't have the experience of appearing in front of a supportive crowd and he wanted to see what he had.
And they stepped up to the plate and they did very well. In a closed circumstance.
This is April we are going to know what we have until we step on that football field in August and September that's when we'll really know what we have.
Just from what we've seen so far, it looks like Manning is clearly better than Ewers in completing the deep ball and in his footwork and pocket presence (at least in a non-contact environment). He also looks about even in being able to hit targets in the short to intermediate range. We also know that Manning is bigger and is much better as a runner, which could be a huge x-factor in games. What we don't know is whether Manning will be better at limiting turnovers, which has been one of Ewers' biggest strengths. Even just a couple of extra interceptions here or there could cost you a game or 2. I feel you with that Playstation comment though. Unfortunately, in this case that may mean you may only get to play with the new version for 2 years instead of 3.As a writer, you kind of know that you're potentially opening a can of worms when you have to issue a disclaimer at the top of a content piece.
Here's mine ... I KNOW that Quinn Ewers is the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. I also KNOW that there's not much of a quarterback competition for the starting job in 2024.
It's Quinn.
From my perspective, Ewers proved last year that he's a very, very good quarterback capable of leading a team to big things. He's good enough to win the Big 12 Championship game MVP. He's good enough to beat Alabama on the road. He's a future NFL player.
Yet, he's not yet proven that he's a great quarterback. His worst game of last season (statistically speaking) came in the most important game of last season when he was clearly the second-best quarterback on the field in a game that Texas lost by 6 points while also knocking on the door of Washington's goal line in the final seconds. Outside of the Big 12 Championship, he didn't break a game rating of 164 in seven of his last eight games (starting on 9/30/23).
By comparison, Dillon Gabriel did it four times in his final eight games last year at Oklahoma, including three straight to end the season, and the OU coaches basically showed him the door.
Quinn Ewers is a very good college football player who everyone is hoping takes the final step in his evolution of a player into the greatness tier. We might have a subjective opinion on whether it will or will not happen in 2024, but we don't KNOW. From a quantifiable standpoint, it simply hasn't happened yet.
Enter Arch Manning into the chat.
Before we go any further, let's just acknowledge that Manning is ... which is the most exciting, non-starting player in college football. He's the former No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class and has one of the most-known last names in the sport. It's like if his last name was Maradona and he lived in Argentina.
On a weekend in college football where spring games took place all over the country, only one story in college football made ESPN.com's "Top headlines" on Sunday morning ... the backup quarterback at Texas.
Before we go any further, we all need to be on the same page that this situation is unique in a million ways.
One of those unique ways is the reality that no 5-star quarterback since 2002 who was ranked as a top-5 (or better) prospect nationally has ever waited two years before emerging as a starting quarterback. Manning is going to do this and it's never happened before. We're talking about a player who some people believe will be the No. 1 overall pick in a future NFL Draft to be named later. It's like getting a PlayStation for Christmas and not being able to plug it in for a couple of years.
Ok, let's talk about his performance in the glorified practice that gets televised and has a snazzy name (The Spring Game) when he went 19 of 26 for 355 yards and 3 touchdowns (I'm not counting that Hail Mary interception on the last play of the scrimmage against him).
I thought he looked sensational and just like a future first-round-level quarterback.
He made every kind of throw you could ask a quarterback to make. He threw balls to the opposite hash marks that showed off his arm strength. He threw the ball over the middle. Hell, he threw the ball over the middle in a tight window on a deep post that should have been a touchdown. He was accurate. He was creative. He was damn good.
Manning does it all with a calmness that is unmistakable and it's a trait that some very successful players never obtain. When he drops back and his eyes look down the field, there's no anxiety in his body when he has to check down to the intermediate and short-area targets. The field never gets overly busy and his body language in the pocket is such that his feet don't get sloppy as a byproduct of anxiety.
You'd have to be Ray Charles not to be able to see the skill set that has so many people drooling over the idea of seeing him play more. This isn't the same as Maalik Murphy's 9 of 13 performance from last year for a lot of reasons, but Murphy not being more skilled than Manning in some pretty important ways is not a piece of the discussion to overlook.
I'd flat out be lying to you if I said I didn't wonder a few times during the spring game whether Manning is the best quarterback on campus right now. That's what happens when a guy goes 10 for 10 to start a scrimmage and one of his two interceptions in the first half was perhaps the best throw he made all day.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, "to know" something is to be "absolutely certain or sure" about it. Of all the things I am absolutely certain about Ewers, I am not absolutely certain that he's better than Manning right now. As I established above, Ewers has been a very good quarterback, but he's not great. Manning also isn't a great quarterback yet, but is anyone going to argue that he might not be very good right now?
That's very good vs. very good. One guy has more experience with game-proven success, while the other guy might simply have a higher upside, both as a collegiate player and NFL Draft prospect.
I'm just going to say the quiet part out loud ... Quinn Ewers is the starting quarterback for the 2024 Longhorns, but I don't KNOW that the 2024 Longhorns will be better with him at quarterback than they would be with Manning as the starter.
I don't know that at all.
- Jan 14, 2011
- 32,140
- 83,555
- 113
Yes, I meant incompletion. I'm going to assume Jason edited it to make it wrong.
I'm not overly concerned. I see lots of improvement.
Yeah it'll be interesting to see what he looks like when playing against the number 1 defensive unit which is what Quinn did yesterday and has all camp. Our #1 defense is plenty good. Arch is going to be a great QB but I do not believe he is the better QB currently. I'm a little disappointed in you Ketch, this just has a feel of you trying to do what the national media is doing, which is just trying to ride the wave of the non football crowd. So do you really believe Arch has the better skills? Why is that? He has better legs no doubt but I do not believe he has better throwing skills. They are both in the top 1 % there so I'm not sure how to come up with that? They were both the #1 QB of their class even though Quinn was a class earlier than he should have been and he played against the best 6A talent in Texas. Arch played against small private schools and is the reason why he's not quite where Quinn is. I do think Arch will be a great QB but he's not ready the way Quinn is (at least not yet). They both will get their time to shine and probably both will play this year in real moments against the best competition. We will really see how Arch does then. We know how QE did against the best and on the road. But go ahead, keep up the false narrative when we really don't know squat from a spring game? I thought you had gone to more scrimmages by now? We've seen both guys play plenty and both are very capable but currently Quinn is more prepared.
This list had it 20th.
Prince's 50 greatest singles – ranked!
As a remastered and expanded version of classic album 1999 is announced, we rate the Purple One’s finest funk hits
This one had it 19th.
All 85 Prince singles, ranked 4 u from worst 2 best
On the fifth anniversary of his death, we rank every Prince song officially released as a single, from 1978's 'Soft and Wet' to 2015's 'Free Urself.'
www.latimes.com
Hate a strong word, but suggesting that a guy who has never started a game in college is equal to a 3rd year starter who led Texas to its first playoff appearance ever suggest that you are inexplicably down on Ewers. Especially after we've heard nothing but praise from Sark. I think that Manning will be great, I don't for one minute believe that he is ready to do what Ewers did last year at Alabama. I doubt that you do either.
So, you can't quote a single thing...
Ewers is very good. He's not great.
You don't think it's possible that Manning is also very good?
??? I didn't say that you hate on him.
Do you really believe that Arch is ready to go into a place like Alabama or Georgia or Ole Miss or Michigan and win in his second start in college? I have zero doubt that Ewers is.
You've watched enough football to know that first year starters almost always struggle. It usually takes some time to adjust to the speed and violence and spectacle of the college game.
Last edited:
As I established above, Ewers has been a very good quarterback, but he's not great. Manning also isn't a great quarterback yet, but is anyone going to argue that he might not be very good right now?
I guess great means heisman finalist or something. maybe nitpicky. But im kinda in the camp that thinks Ewers is still in early stages of his development.
