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Heading into the 2025 NFL draft, most mock drafts and analyst projections had former Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers going in the third or fourth rounds.

However, in the days leading up to the draft, several anonymous NFL coaches and executives gave their honest take on the talented quarterback that didn’t exactly paint a lovely picture.

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“He’s more player than talent,” one AFC executive said. “He’s just not a big kid [6-2 1/8, 214]. He’s been hurt every year since high school. The arm’s very average. There’s not a lot of talent there. He’s not a starter. He’s a distributor. He’s a point guard. He ain’t going to push it down the field.”

“Real smart, great kid, real self-aware,” added an NFC quarterbacks coach said. “Just the arm strength and some of the decision-making (are concerns). He’s going to have a big jump, too, just as far as what’s asked of him at the next level. But he’s somebody you can see develop, develop, develop and then — bang! Because there’s a competitor there that’s hard to teach and there’s an intelligence factor there that’s hard to teach.”

Those questions may help explain why a quarterback that took his team to the semifinal of the College Football Playoff fell all the way to the seventh round where the Miami Dolphins selected him. With his NFL draft slide, Ewers received a strong message from Longhorns Minister of Culture and Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey.

“dream come true. talent to the next level inside and out. so happy for you Quinn,” he said before offering two words of advice. “Sling it.”

In 37 games during his college career, Ewers completed 64.9% of his passes for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns with 31 coming during the 2024 season.

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