Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Can Quinn Catch Colt?)
When we talk about the greatest quarterback play in the history of the Texas program, the list begins and ends with Vincent Paul Young Jr.
For my money, he's the greatest college football player I've ever seen with my own two eyes.
Beyond Young, there's a second tier of all-time quarterback greatness on the 40 Acres that centers around the likes of Bobby Layne, James Street and Colt McCoy. Of this group, Layne and McCoy have their numbers retired, which would seem to indicate that the second tier should include only them, but Street's national title and perfect 20-0 record as a starter gets him a seat at the table for my money.
Once we get to the third tier of UT's all-time quarterback play, we're talking about the likes of James Brown, Sam Ehlinger, Chris Simms and Major Applewhite.
All of this leads us to Texas junior starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, one of the current cover boys on the new NCAA College Football Game. As the owner of the last Big 12 championship trophy the Longhorns will ever compete for, along with a championship game MVP belt to boot, the former Southlake Carroll star and 5-star prospect put his name in tier three a season ago. Others might disagree, but the championship glory from a season ago puts him ahead of everyone in tier three, except for James Brown. I find myself going back and forth between those two in such a way that my personal top 5 list probably looks like this:
1. Young. 2. McCoy. 3. Layne, 4. Street. 5a. Brown. 5b. Ewers.
Of course, Ewers still has a season to go in his Texas career and when you consider the success he's expected to have in 2024, along with his potential first-round status in next year's NFL Draft, it's easy to see him overtaking Brown for the No. 5 spot when the eventual dust settles on his career.
The big question I have is whether he can crack the top 4 and enter Mount Rushmore Texas QB status. Also, the more I think about it, I find myself wondering if he can take down McCoy for the No. 2 overall spot on the list.
On the surface, it seems obvious that winning the Heisman Trophy or winning a national title this season would be the surest ways to claim the No. 2 spot because those are both things that McCoy ended up coming short of in his career, as he painfully finished as a runner-up for both. You can set your watch to the fact Ewers' jersey number will be retired if he accomplishes the thing that he's a co-favorite to accomplish (along with Georgia's Carson Beck) coming into the season.
Make no mistake about it, for all of the Arch Manning discussion that takes place in Austin and all over the nation, it's Ewers who enters the 2024 season with a true shot at football immortality.
Will it happen? At the risk of being shunned by the Orangebloods community, I still have my doubts.
When we look back at Ewers' 2024 season, you'll find that he failed to break a 164-game rating in seven of his last eight games. Take a look at the numbers:
vs. Washington: 125.6 vs. Oklahoma State: 183.0 vs. Texas Tech: 133.7 at Iowa State: 161.2 at TCU: 151.3 at Houston: 163.2 vs, Oklahoma: 160.4 vs. Kansas: 153.1
For most of his sophomore season, Ewers was the king of being very good, as he lived in the 150s and 160s in terms of quarterback efficiency in seven of his first nine games, but rarely did he go into the stratosphere that a player like McCoy lived in during the 2008 season. It's the final step in his college evolution that Ewers still needs to take.
The step up from very good to flat-out great is probably the most difficult one that a college quarterback can attempt to take. With just a little bit of improvement, he's should be knocking on the door. Yet, there are no sure things in the lives of college quarterbacks. Brown ended up being injured for much of his final season in Austin, while McCoy never scaled the heights in 2009 that he reached in 2008.
My instincts tell me that Ewers can absolutely pull this off, especially when you consider the improvements that he made from 2022 to 2023, but it's not the kind of certainty that would allow me to write it in ink instead of pencil. There's so much turnover at the wide receiver and tight end positions that will impact him that you kind of have to wait and see a little with the offense. There's also a daunting schedule that will see him play in Ann Arbor, at home against the sport's current giant, the little game in the Cotton Bowl and a couple of very tricky rivalry road games. Plus, there's the elephant in the room ... he has to stay healthy.
Yet, there's no getting away from the fact that there's an opportunity in front of him that doesn't come around every season. If all goes right, he'll finish his college career with a seat on Mount Olympus. At worst, he'll finish his career hanging out with The Godfather of College Football.
I can't wait to see how the story unfolds.
No. 2 – Speaking of greatness ... let's talk about the Texas offensive line ...
It's not just Ewers that is being talked about in rarified air these days …
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