Outside of the Shedeur Sanders drama, one of the biggest stories of this year’s NFL Draft was the slide of quarterback Quinn Ewers, the former highly-touted recruit who won big at Texas but ended up as a seventh-round pick by the Miami Dolphins.
Ewers passed up a lot of money by opting to go pro, leading some to wonder whether it was the right call.
The Athletic’s Chris Vannini and Sam Khan covered Ewers during his time at Texas and decided to turn a text conversation into a more fleshed-out discussion over Ewers’ draft result.
Vannini: Sam, while so much draft attention was on Shedeur, you and I were more interested in Ewers’ slide. Unlike Sanders, Ewers had more college eligibility remaining. He turned down a lot of money to jump into the draft, and now we know where he ended up.
Despite having a draft party set up and cameras in that room with all kinds of animal heads mounted on the wall, Ewers had to wait until the seventh round, going 231st to the Dolphins on Saturday.
It sets up an interesting question: Did he make the right decision?
But before we get into that, what did you think about him falling so far? I couldn’t believe he dropped below several quarterbacks who went ahead of him.
Khan: I was surprised. I expected he would be picked somewhere between the third and fifth rounds. Dane Brugler, our NFL Draft expert, had a third-round grade on Ewers in “The Beast.” I understood the concerns about him. He suffered injuries in all three years at Texas. His deep-ball accuracy left a lot to be desired. His pocket awareness was questionable at times.
But there were enough good things about his game — his arm strength, quick release, touch, toughness and poise — that I figured someone would take a flier on him sooner than the seventh round.
There were definitely skeptics in NFL scouting circles, though. I spoke to one after Ewers declared who said he thought Ewers projected to be a solid backup in the league and could start in a pinch but didn’t view him as a long-term, multiyear starter.
Ewers’ fall in the draft got people talking Saturday, wondering if he should have stayed one more year in college ball. What do you think?
Vannini: I don’t know how long he’ll last in the NFL, but I would’ve drafted him ahead of Graham Mertz and Riley Leonard, who went in the sixth round, and probably even Dillon Gabriel and Jalen Milroe, who went in the third.
It’s undoubtedly true that he left more money on the table by going pro than returning to college (which remains wild to say). He would’ve needed to transfer, as Texas begins the Arch Manning era, but an accomplished veteran like Ewers likely would have gotten at least $4 million in NIL for 2025 alone, given the money allotted to Carson Beck at Miami and Darian Mensah at Duke in this past portal cycle. Per Spotrac, Ewers’ draft slot is valued at $4.3 million total over four years, and that’s if he lasts that long in the NFL.
It was a mistake for Ewers to leave college football early. Tell me why you think I’m wrong.
Khan: I never got the sense Ewers had a desire to transfer and finish his career anywhere other than Texas. He grew up rooting for the Longhorns, and being the starting quarterback on the Forty Acres was his dream. He helped lift the program from the doldrums and took it to consecutive College Football Playoff semifinal appearances. He’s secure in the legacy he left.
Could he have made a lot of NIL cash in 2025 at another school? Of course. But he has already made quite a bit since getting to college. He signed a $1.4 million memorabilia deal as soon as he reclassified and enrolled early at Ohio State in 2021. He racked up double-digit NIL deals during his three years at Texas, including a national Dr Pepper commercial, the cover of EA Sports College Football 25, New Era, Lucchese and even one with a private jet company. That’s not to mention whatever he was paid in NIL from the Texas One Fund, the school’s collective. He did well for himself at Texas.
I don’t think money was a huge motivating factor in the decision for him to go pro. He considered going pro after the 2023 season. I think he was ready, especially in a quarterback class that didn’t appear to be very deep.
Vannini: That’s a fair point. It’s easy for me, someone who hasn’t made millions, to say someone else made a mistake in passing up on a few guaranteed million. But man, that’s still a lot of money!
The draft stock relative to his class was a point I bought into before the draft. This was not a good crop of quarterbacks, and next year’s is, meaning Ewers’ stock probably wouldn’t get higher. That was a good reason to go. Like you said, he was projected to go closer to the middle of the draft.
So it’s purely hindsight, but I think if you told Ewers he’d be a seventh-round pick and barely make it into the field, he might reconsider. Do you think he would? Or was he fully ready to move on with his football life?
Khan: If there was any degree of certainty of his being a seventh-round pick when he declared for the draft in January, I’d have to think that would have weighed heavily in his decision. But that’s not the reality. Draft prospects get grades and projections in the winter, before all the heavy lifting is done scouting-wise, and have to decide before they know what their stock is.
At the time he made the decision, I thought he made the right one. He put 36 starts’ worth of tape on his resume. We saw it all, from the peaks in wins at Alabama and Michigan to the valleys in losses at Oklahoma State and to Georgia. He took Texas to great heights and performed well in his lone season in the SEC. How much would another 12 starts at another school really do for him in the eyes of scouts? If you don’t believe me, ask Brugler, who felt the same way at the time.
I don’t really see it as a right/wrong choice. He was a millionaire before his first college snap. I don’t think maximizing his money was his priority. And I’m not sure one more year in college was going to change all that much.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 15, 2025
I ask that also taking Ewers’ injury history into consideration: a clavicle injury in 2022, an AC joint sprain in 2023 and an oblique injury that bothered him for a large chunk of 2024. Durability issues probably played into why he fell so far. But if he truly believed and received intel that he was a Day 2 or early Day 3 pick, that seemed like a safer bet in January than spending another full season in college football, hoping to stay healthy a full year. Not to mention, he’d be at a new place, in a new offense, with a new supporting cast and coaches. At Texas, he had the best of all those things: elite weapons, great coaches and an explosive, diverse offense to show off his skills.
Ultimately, I think Ewers was ready to take the next step. Though he went way later than he hoped, Miami should be a great spot for him. He won’t be under pressure to be the starter with Tua Tagovailoa and Zach Wilson there. But I wouldn’t be shocked if, once he develops, he sees the field and makes an impact.
That life-changing call📱 @QuinnEwers x @MiamiDolphins pic.twitter.com/7YlOkR6SEY
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2025
Vannini: I agree. Like I said, I like his chances to stick in the league more than some other guys who got drafted, and Miami could be a good fit.
It remains a wild but true fact that many college football players are taking a pay cut in the NFL, especially quarterbacks. San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy, who has played in a Super Bowl, made about $1 million per year the past three years as the last pick in the draft. A lot of college quarterbacks make more than that. It’s what happens when the free market meets college football. If Ewers sticks around and gets to that second NFL contract, this could all pay off.
Ewers came into Texas with sky-high expectations as a perfect 1.000-rated recruit by 247Sports and accomplished so much. He led Texas “back” and turned the meme into a reality. He won a lot of big games and a Big 12 championship with MVP honors, and he earned second-team All-SEC and was twice a few plays away from playing for a national championship.
It’s too bad the end of his career was partly overshadowed by the Arch Manning Industrial Complex and that he slid lower in the draft than expected, but I had a lot of fun watching him at Texas, and his Longhorn legacy should be a good one as he heads into the next chapter.
Khan: I often thought the perfect recruiting rating put Ewers in the crosshairs and brought more scrutiny than maybe he deserved sometimes. I also wonder if reclassifying affected his development rather than if he had finished his high school career the traditional way. Bottom line, he was a good college quarterback who accomplished a lot. So often, he was criticized for what he wasn’t, thanks in part to the famous last name of the guy who backed him up. But he handled it well, and the pressures he faced in his career should serve him well at the next level.
At the end of the day, Ewers has a chance. I’m fascinated to see what he does with it. One thing he proved throughout his career is that not much rattles him. And though this weekend was probably disappointing for him, I bet he’ll bounce back like he did throughout his Texas career.
He was the last Texas player to get picked in another terrific draft for the program. A school-record 12 Longhorns were selected, which marks the second consecutive year the program has produced double-digit draft picks. In 2022, Texas had none, which underscores how much and how quickly things have changed in Austin. Steve Sarkisian seems to have built a solid foundation that will keep the Longhorns contending for titles and producing draft picks for years to come.
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
