NFL analyst and former Texas QB Chris Simms firmly believes that the Longhorns are headed for a massive playoff disaster this season, and the reason for it is their starting QB Quinn Ewers, or more specifically, his fatal flaw.
“Quinn, as you guys know for college football this day and age, he’s a below average mover and runner”, Simms said on ESPN’s The College Football Show alongside his brother Matt Simms. “So he’s not going to make a lot of plays with his legs. The other thing he does at times, and where I think this might also be a reason they call quicker developing pass plays, is he does hold the ball where he won’t get off the number one read.
“When I watch some film of him and stuff at times I go, man if Sarkisian doesn’t dial it up perfectly, he’ll just sit there and keep patting the ball until somebody comes open. All in all as I said you know this is a real good football team and definitely one of the best teams teams in college football.”
Quinn Ewers’ shortcomings were evident vs. Arkansas
However much celebrated the 20-10 win against Arkansas, or the sheer improvement in Texas’s offense is, the lack of sharpness was evident in Ewers’ performance on Saturday.
As FanSided’s Andrew Miller points out, Ewers’ lack of downfield success limited the Longhorns’ rhythm.
“The lack of a true vertical passing threat also hurt the Longhorns’ offense in this game. Ewers only completed 1-of-6 deep passing attempts… and missed pretty badly on at least three of those incompletions in the deep passing game. He wasn’t able to get in a good rhythm the way he did when he passed for over 300 yards and five touchdowns in the Florida win against Arkansas in the first half,” Miller wrote.
Ewers’ leadership skills in driving the offense and leaving enough meat on the bone for them to flip the game in their favor are laudable, truly. However, with him going pro next season and expecting a suitable team in the 2025 NFL draft, the Longhorns quarterback needs to sharpen his judgment with the ball.