Who are we to judge a player like Quinn Ewers for his decision to pass up millions in NIL money for an opportunity to live out a dream of playing in the NFL? 

I found myself asking this question over the weekend, as we watched players being taken in the NFL Draft. Social media, which is not real life, were in a constant uproar as Ewers sat in what looked like a taxidermy office, watching other players hear their names called over the course of seven rounds. 

Up until his name was finally called in the seventh round, with the Miami Dolphins taking a chance on the Texas quarterback, the questions about whether Quinn Ewers should have stayed in college for another season to collect loads of cash through an NIL deal were running rampant. 

But, we were missing the point with the former Texas Longhorns gunslinger. 

For the past two years, Quinn Ewers has dealt with more than some quarterbacks deal with during their entire tenure at one school. Oh yea, some people forget about the fact that Ewers led Texas to back-to-back college football playoff appearances, while Arch Manning sat on the sidelines waiting for his opportunity to take over the coveted position. 

Would Quinn Ewers Have Upped His Draft Stock Next Season?

While Quinn Ewers would have easily made over $5 million if he had entered the transfer portal, and not declared for the NFL Draft, the Texas quarterback was done playing college football. It wasn’t as if he was receiving bad advice from his agents or coaching staff. Ewers knew he could be sitting for a while at home, waiting on that phone call from an NFL team wanting to take a chance on a quarterback who has battled through multiple injuries over the last two seasons. 

Sure, Ewers could have returned for another season of college football. But would it have actually helped his draft stock? What more could he have done this upcoming season? It’s not as if teams were harping on his injuries that he overcame during his time at Texas. 

Would he have succeeded at Notre Dame this year, or any other top-tier program looking to bring in a veteran quarterback? That question will be left unanswered. But, do we actually think he will go in the first few rounds next year? I highly doubt it, though others will obviously disagree. 

Here’s a look at the quarterbacks who will be eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft. 

• Drew Allar
• Arch Manning
• LaNorris Sellers
• Garrett Nussmeir
• Sam Leavitt
• Dante Moore
• Cade Klubnik
• Carson Beck

Ok, so we want to argue that Ewers would’ve gone before 70% of those guys listed? If you didn’t notice from this years NFL Draft, teams are not looking for projects. There looking for guys who can come in immediately and compete. Besides Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart and Shedeur Sanders, are there quarterbacks that were taken in this year’s draft that could compete for a starting job to open the 2025 season? 

The answer is no, unless a team found lighting in a bottle. 

Quinn Ewers Was Ready To Live Out A Dream, Not Chase The Money

For all the stuff that we give players for entering the transfer portal and chasing money for another season of college football, Quinn Ewers decided it was time to move on. Why are we bashing the young man for wanting to achieve a dream, and not going to the highest bidder in the collegiate ranks? 

At the end of the day, this was his choice. It’s not up to us to decide what’s best for a player. He’ll have to live with the decision, and he seems pretty content with the choice to move on to the professional ranks. 

Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier mentioned that Ewers had respect from his teammates, while also discussing his competitiveness on the field. 

“Mike [McDaniel] and I. We met him the year before at the Texas workout, and we spent some time,” Grier mentioned about Ewers during his press conference. “We talked to coach [Steve] Sarkisian about him, and ‘Sark’ really likes him and was high [on him] and was talking about him playing through the injuries this year, which affected his play a little bit. But he talked about his toughness, his mental toughness, the pushing through with the injury, the expectations, all the pressure with [Arch] Manning there coming in, and so he loved his competitiveness and how he plays and how his teammates respond to him.

“So, he was someone that we always had an eye on looking at, and the opportunity at that point in the draft just made sense for us to pull the pick.”

For all the talk from fans about how the college game has turned into just chasing the bag, Quinn Ewers decided to chase his dream. He accomplished things in college football that some quarterbacks can only dream of. 

At the end of the day, he wanted to move on. So, who are we to critique his decision? It might work out for Quinn Ewers in the NFL, down the road after learning how to be a professional quarterback. If it doesn’t, then that’s an outcome that Ewers will be able to live with. 

The former Longhorn helped lead his favorite team to the college football playoff, helped Steve Sarkisian rebuild the Texas program and made a good amount of money doing it. 

Quinn Ewers did it the right way, and now he gets an opportunity to chase another dream. Looking back, he made a decision that was best for him, which is all that matters.