Quinn Ewers NFL Draft 2025 profile: Full scouting report, pro comparison, landing spots, future outlook, more

Born a little more than a month before the Cowboys drafted Jason Witten, Quinn Ewers is a Texas native who went to Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, about 20 miles north of AT&T Stadium. But before he even stepped foot in high school, Ewers was the talk of college coaches, even drawing as much as an offer from West Virginia while he was in sixth grade.

By the time he started as a sophomore, word was already out on just how talented Ewers was. But a core injury sidelined him for six games as a junior, and Ewers finished in sixth place in the 2021 Elite 11 competition during his offseason. None of that mattered — he was deemed the No. 1 overall prospect by 247Sports and could punch his ticket to any school he wanted. 

As such, Ewers skipped his senior season of high school, reclassified as part of the class of 2021 and enrolled in college to take advantage of lucrative Name, Image and Likeness deals, including some reportedly worth $1.5 million, an unheard of number for players who hadn’t played any college ball.

And those deals were at Ohio State, not Texas where he initially committed to. With the Buckeyes, a then-freshman Ewers competed for and lost the quarterback competition to C.J. Stroud. He played two snaps for the Buckeyes and transferred back to Texas where he was named their starter. In three seasons with the Longhorns, Ewers overcame two shoulder injuries and played through a torn oblique but went 27-9 as a starter and led the program to the College Football Playoff in 2024 and 2025. In January, he forfeited his remaining eligibility and declared for the NFL Draft.

Quinn Ewers NFL Draft profile

• Age as of Week 1: 22
• Height: 6-foot-2 ⅛
• Weight: 214
• Hand size: 9 ⅜
• Comparable body-type to: Andy Dalton

CBS prospect ranking

Position: No. 4 QB | Overall: 107

Consensus big board ranking (via NFL Mock Draft Database): No. 71 overall (No. 5 QB)

To check out all of CBSSports.com’s most recent mock drafts, click here.

NFL comparison: Colt McCoy

Ewers might remind you of another former Longhorns quarterback in Colt McCoy. Both had good enough size to go with a good enough arm to manage an offense, but both didn’t have the cannon-arm strength or long-ball touch to threaten defenses deep. You might believe Ewers had maybe a touch more arm strength than McCoy, but McCoy was a little more mobile. In the end, Ewers should be able to put together a long career as a reasonably solid backup, just as McCoy did.

NFL landing spots

By Garrett Podell

• Dallas Cowboys: Yes, there’s more to this fit than just location for the Texas native. Quarterback Dak Prescott turns 32 years old in July and is fresh off the second season-ending injury of his career in 2024. Yes, Dallas re-signed Prescott to the richest contract in league history that spans the next four seasons, but Ewers’ developmental timeline could line up with that deal. Ewers is a project mechanically and mentally, plus he’s young enough (he’ll be 22 this year) to where he could sit for four years and still have plenty of time left in his career. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones also loves his Texas connections.
• New Orleans Saints: The Saints are cuffed to Derek Carr for his age-34 season. However, his contract runs out of guaranteed money in 2026, the last season of his four-year, $150 million contract. Releasing Carr after the upcoming season could save New Orleans $32.8 million in cap space. Carr and the Saints are together for better or worse this year, but they could pave the way for Ewers in 2026 with Carr’s cap hit set to balloon to $61.5 million. 
• Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins have some high level offensive pieces in former All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill, former first-round receiver Jaylen Waddle and running back De’Von Achane. However, they desperately need more durability and big plays from the quarterback position. Ewers could develop under Mike McDaniel’s guidance from the sidelines in 2025, and then there’s a chance he could replace Tua Tagovailoa as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback in 2026 or 2027.

Quinn Ewers scouting report

Accolades

• Career: Third in school history in both passing yards (9,128) and passing touchdowns (68)
• Two-time second-team all-conference (Big 12 in 2023 and SEC in 2024)
• 2023: Big 12 Championship MVP

Strengths

• Solid height and size for the position.
• Typically had good arm mechanics with a quick, snappy release. Would change his release point based on the type of throw he was making, including a sidearm-style release to get a little more juice on the ball.
• Generally had good pocket awareness with a number of examples of him stepping up away from pass-rush pressure while keeping his eyes downfield.
• Might be among the tops in the class at processing defensive coverages when needed, even if he didn’t always take advantage. When he didn’t force it to his first read, Ewers was capable of finding his second and sometimes his third read in the offense.
• Ewers knew all the keys to look for when targeting a defender and took advantage frequently. Would smartly attack blitzes by throwing to targets in the area where the blitz came from and had the knack for ganging up on defensive backs who turned their backs to him.
• Has the potential to develop how to manipulate coverages with his eyes. Would sometimes show how to move defenders by looking one way and then throwing another, and he even dabbled in some no-look passes.
• Capably threw with good timing and anticipation.
• Especially nice touch on short and mid-range passes, and many came when he was off-platform.
• Consistently displayed good placement and accuracy on short-range throws. Was among the best in this draft class on passes of nine or fewer air yards. Had his moments on longer throws as well.
• Clearly battle tested: Started against nine teams ranked in the top 25 in 2024, more than anyone else in college football. Led Texas to six wins in those games. Also led Texas to the College Football Playoff in 2024 and 2025. 

Concerns

• Played 35 snaps from under center in 2024 and 72 over three years at Texas. Most prospects in the class don’t have much experience playing from under center, nor is it a detriment.
• Ewers’ pocket awareness and sensitivity to the pass rush were inconsistent. Sometimes he would be ignorant of the pass rush and complete a pass within a nanosecond of getting shellacked, and sometimes he’d be so ignorant of the pass rush that he’d get hammered from the blind side. When Ewers was aware of the pass rush, he’d sometimes adjust accordingly and make a play, and sometimes he’d panic. It’s something he has to improve on at the next level.
• Ewers played on the balls of his feet a good amount of the time, setting himself up for some inaccuracy when he didn’t plant his front foot. Additionally, Ewers’ footwork in the pocket sometimes broke down and may have been responsible for some off-target throws. This fix is coachable.
• Threw a litany of short screens, quick outs, flares and check-down passes. Of his total attempts last season, 28.3% of them were on those small, easy throws inside of two air yards from the line of scrimmage. Those plays accounted for 38.6% of his completions, 23.2% of his yards and 16.1% of his touchdowns. At times, Ewers would check-down prematurely and not take the extra second to scan for an open target — even when he had a clean pocket.
• Be it because of the scheme or his own unwillingness to test his arm, Ewers seldom made tight-window throws in 2024.
• Every coach will have issues with Ewers’ arm strength, velocity and accuracy on longer throws. Last season he was last among the top QB prospects in his class with a 47% completion rate on throws of 10-plus air yards with a 25.8% off-target rate. His career completion rate on throws of 30-plus yards was 20% (17 of 85) with a 60% off-target rate. And Ewers had just one pass in three years travel least 50 air yards. Frequently did his long throws hang in the air and not have desirable velocity. Without zip, strength or drive consistently on intermediate or downfield throws, defenses will be able to key in on Ewers’ shorter attempts. 
• At 62.7%, his overall completion rate was the worst of the top-eight prospects in the draft class.
• Had a dozen passes batted at the line of scrimmage, most of any of the top quarterbacks in the class. His sometimes-sidearm delivery definitely contributed to some of them.
• No better than average speed made Ewers much less of a flight risk with his feet than other quarterbacks. Did know when and how to slide to end a run, though.
• Has an injury history: Played through a torn oblique and injured his ankle in 2024; suffered a grade 2 AC joint sprain in his left shoulder in 2023; suffered a right SC joint sprain in his right (throwing) shoulder in 2022; had a core muscle injury that cost him six games in high school in 2020.

Bottom line

Ewers has traits that could help him navigate an NFL offense in due time, but the lack of arm strength and accuracy beyond 10 yards will not only limit what an offense can do around him but better set up a defense to force some turnovers. Tack on a lack of consistency when it comes to dealing with the pass rush, and the one-time top prospect of the nation might only elevate to being a quality backup who could pick up wins if a starter misses a few games.

Quinn Ewers college stats

High school: Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas)
Class: 2021
Player rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (100)

• National: 1 | QB: 1 | Texas: 1

High school accolades

• MaxPreps Sophomore Player of the Year (2019)
• MaxPreps Junior All-America second team (2020)
• American Bowl participant (2022)

Check out Quinn Ewers’s full 247Sports profile, here. For his MaxPreps profile, click here. 

The 2025 NFL Draft is to take place from April 24-26 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. More draft coverage can be found at CBSSports.com, including the weekly mock drafts and a regularly available look at the eligible prospects.