Heading into the 2021 season, the Texas Longhorns and Tom Herman look like they may need to check the transfer portal for a quarterback.
As it sits at this moment, the team looks to be down two quarterbacks heading into the next season. Senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger is expected to head to the Senior Bowl and the NFL following the conclusion of the 2020 season. His final bowl game and game as a Longhorn will likely come against the Colorado Buffaloes in the Valero Alamo Bowl.
All reports are indicating that Sam will look to lead his team to victory one last time, head coach Tom Herman is 4-0 in bowl games. Three of which came for Texas, after last year’s thumping of Utah, Herman became the first coach in school history to win bowl games in his first three seasons. Ehlinger makes quarterback No. 1 that is gone and No. 2 is freshman Ja’Quinden Jackson who will leave one crowed quarterback situation for another in Utah. They also just added a graduate transfer from Baylor, Charlie Brewer.
The quarterback room in 2021:
- Redshirt Sophomore- Casey Thompson
- Freshman- Hudson Card
- Incoming Freshman- Charles Wright
Given they have two quarterbacks on the current roster, one with very little game experience and an incoming freshman, the team and Tom Herman could begin looking in the portal for a quarterback. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich has a particular style in a passer that he looks for. Charles Wright is more of the pro-style that he prefers. A big reason why Jalen Milroe flipped to Alabama following the commitment of Quinn Ewers, another pro-style passer.
Hudson Card was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback of the 2020 recruiting cycle, but he has the tangibles to be a pure pocket passer and provides the athleticism to run when needed. Many feel that he is likely the guy heading into 2021. Thompson is more of the dual-threat but there isn’t a lot of game tape on him to know if he could be the guy, much the same of Card.
Most reports indicate that is why Jackson bolted for Utah. Not feeling that he would get a fair shot at the quarterback spot in 2021, nothing concrete but that is the feeling behind closed doors. Only Jackson can tell you for sure why he left, the rest is all speculative at this point. If the Longhorns were to chase another passer in the transfer portal, could that cause them to lose Thompson as well? Perhaps but going into the season with three quarterbacks with very little experience in live game reps might be a reason Texas goes hunting.
Next, we look at options currently in the transfer portal.
Given that the Longhorns and Yurcich seem to prefer the pro-style passers, we will remove dual-threat quarterbacks such as Tennessee Vols transfer Jarrett Guarantano. Although his time with Tennessee felt more like a pro-style that Yurcich has an affinity for. These names are all speculation, none of which have been tied to the Texas Longhorns, we are just spitballing here.