Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian went into detail about his decision to keep Quinn Ewers as the starting quarterback over Arch Manning heading into the 2024 NCAA football season.
Instead of declaring for the NFL Draft this year, Ewers decided to return for another year of college football. Prior to his announcement, many scouts and analysts viewed Ewers as a potential top-10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
With Ewers retaining the starting duties for 2024, that means the third-generation QB in Manning will have to continue waiting patiently for his chance to shine.
Speaking on Keyshawn Johnson’s “All Facts No Brakes” podcast (h/t Griffin McVeigh of On3.com), Sarkisian explained why the QB1 job is still Ewers’ heading into 2024:
“I’m a little bit old school on some of this stuff. I understand in this day and age of recruiting and social media, everybody wants to be the five-star and come in right away and have instant impact.
“But I’m a little bit of the belief that there’s a developmental side to our game. So that when you do play, you play great football, and that you have longevity in your career when you do play in the NFL because you are prepared for that time.”
As much as countless fans want to see Arch in action as soon as possible, Sarkisian has every reason to continue riding the hot hand. Ewers completed 69.0 percent of pass attempts for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions to go along with five rushing TDs.
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Ewers helped Texas qualify for the four-team playoff tournament, where they narrowly fell 37-31 to the Washington Huskies in the Sugar Bowl.
If the 18-year-old Arch wasn’t keen on waiting any longer for the chance to start, he would entered the transfer portal. Plenty of major football programs would have wanted Arch, too, so it’s safe to assume that he’s still content waiting for his time in Texas.
Sarkisian’s Longhorns will open the 2024 season with a home tilt against the Colorado State Rams on Aug. 31 at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.
