Card to stay in play, but expect Ewers to land QB job
First in a position-by-position series looking at the 2022 Texas Longhorns after spring workouts:
Today: Quarterback.
Who’s back: Hudson Card, sophomore; Ben Ballard, junior; Charles Wright, redshirt freshman .
Who’s gone: Casey Thompson.
2022 signees: Quinn Ewers, redshirt freshman (Ohio State transfer); Maalik Murphy, freshman.
What to expect: A hardcharging challenge from thirdyear quarterback Card and, ultimately, a triumph for newcomer Ewers.
Rundown: Coach Steve Sarkisian probably won’t award the final rose until late August, just as he did last year during Card and Casey Thompson’s months-long duel. Thompson started Texas’ final 10 games last season and transferred to Nebraska in January, leaving Card and Ewers, Southlake Carroll’s golden boy, to duke it out for the starting job this offseason.
Card has the experiential edge after starting UT’S first two games and appearing in five more last season. Ewers has the talent edge, but he hasn’t thrown a pass in a regular-season game since his junior year of high school after reclassifying to the Class of 2021 and enrolling at Ohio State last August.
Still, Ewers exited spring ball with a slight edge over Card. The nation’s former No. 1 recruit has a bazooka attached to his right arm socket, a weapon he put on display with an immaculate 62-yard touchdown pass to wideout Isaiah Neyor in the Longhorns’ Orange-white spring game last month in Austin.
There’s still some wild stallion to Ewers’ game, though. He gifted an interception to safety Anthony Cook in that scrimmage at Royal-memorial Stadium and missed on a few other deep balls directed toward open receivers.
Sarkisian said any quarterback who plays in UT’S system needs to complete at least 65 percent of his passes. Worse than that and “you’re probably not playing.”
“I think we all saw the big post (route) for the touchdown — that was a heck of a throw to Neyor,” Sarkisian said. “I think we all saw probably a couple throws he’d love to have back and that’s part of growing. I think the one biggest area for Quinn that we’re going to work on with him is (that) not every ball is going to be the perfect throw. And sometimes we’re gonna miss a throw. So the ability to move on to the next play to play the rest of the game is going to be critical.”
Ewers’ presence has cast a Forty Acres-wide shadow over Card, the former Austin Lake Travis All-american who beat out Thompson but failed to hold onto the starting job last season. But he’s still a capable dual-threat who can deliver throws from some truly unique angles.
Card’s biggest issue last season was his skittish pocket presence and indecision in the face of pressure. Signs of those problems have still presented themselves this spring, but he now seems to have a better command of both the offensive playbook and the locker room.
“I would say he made a big jump as far as leading the guys vocally,” fourthyear receiver Jordan Whittington said. “That’s one thing he didn’t do as much last year. But he’s really taken a grip of things and saying how he wants stuff done and meeting with us.”
Behind Ewers and Card is freshman Murphy.
The Californian enrolled in January after leading Junipero Serra to a state championship, but an ankle injury limited how much on-field work Murphy could perform during his early months on campus. Arriving early helped in terms of acclimating to the unfamiliar and working faceto-face with coaches, but Texas needs to get him up to full speed as insurance in the event of an injury or transfer.
When healthy, the 6-foot-5 Murphy is a towering pocket presence
and gamer who could challenge for the starting job sometime down the line. Despite suffering a collarbone injury last year, Murphy completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 2,972 yards with 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions, plus six rushing scores.
Murphy might be QB1 one day, but it’ll be either Card or Ewers who handles the first snap when UT opens its season Sept. 3 against Louisiana-monroe. If all goes well in what should be a breezy dress rehearsal, the incumbent’s reward will be a Week 2 date with everdaunting national title contender Alabama, Sarkisian’s former employer.
“We gotta continue to grow (at quarterback),” Sarkisian said. “We can’t settle. We’ve got to take these guys to new heights.”