On3 Roundtable: How Texas has set up Quinn Ewers for success in 2023

As Texas heads into Year 3 under coach Steve Sarkisian, it appears to have all the pieces in place to make a run at the College Football Playoff. Not the least of which is starting quarterback Quinn Ewers.

Injuries derailed Ewers’ 2022 campaign, but despite that he cemented himself as the starter again in spring football practice.

“Oh yeah. I think that Quinn Ewers is a potential leader of this football team,” InsideTexas‘ Bobby Burton said in a recent On3 Roundtable. “He definitely is the starting quarterback.

“But this is the deepest Texas team not just at quarterback, but across the table for Texas probably since their run at the national title in 2009, 2008, that time period with Colt McCoy.”

In other words, Ewers is also going to have some weapons to work with and a team that should be able to support him when the offense does run into a bit of trouble.

That was something Burton emphasized when speaking with On3’s JD PicKell.

“They literally, we’ve been talking about it at InsideTexas for the last week and a half,” Burton said. “Texas had five draft picks this year, led by Bijan Robinson. Next year it looks like Texas literally could have as many as 10 draft picks. That’s just an enormous amount of talent in a league, the Big 12, that does not put that many guys in the league.

“So I feel like this is a really good year for Texas. Add into that that they did not lose anybody at the wire to the transfer portal and they actually added guys like AD Mitchell from Georgia, Jalen Catalon from Arkansas. Those are two guys that are immediate starters. Gavin Holmes was a two-year starter at corner for Wake Forest. They’ve added some guys in the portal and didn’t really lose much.”

If Texas is to make a run at the College Football Playoff, it’ll need those pieces to click together. Increasing the overall talent level is one thing. Getting it to function as a cohesive group in all three phases is another.

But there is zero doubt Ewers will have some quality options.

Even Sarkisian is beginning to feel like this year is setting up for something special after a couple years spent building the foundation of his program.

“Steve Sarkisian said as much. He said on the Thursday before the spring game, I was there, he said, ‘Look, this is starting to feel like my team. It’s starting to look like what I want it to look like,’” Burton explained. “And for him, with exposure at not only Alabama under Nick Saban but also USC under Pete Carroll, he’s seen what it’s supposed to look like and he likes it. He likes this team, he thinks they’re enjoying each other.

“And I really do think that they’ve got some weapons right now. They’ve got to figure a couple positions out but they’ve got the tools at their disposal.”

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