Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger has garnered plenty of preseason hype heading into this upcoming college football season.
He’s been named to numerous preseason award watch lists and is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy as a senior. Ehlinger’s production and progression at Texas speaks for itself, but where does he sit in terms of his NFL Draft stock?
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler recently joined the Locked On Longhorns podcast with Patrick Conn to discuss his views on Ehlinger’s ceiling as a draft prospect.
As a national NFL writer, Brugler’s work is well-respected across various networks. However, the NFL Draft in particular is his bread and butter. He releases an NFL Draft Guide each year that includes over 400 in-depth reports and thousands of ranked prospects.
“I was pleasantly surprised when I sat down this summer and flipped on the tape. Texas has a lot of names well-known around college football, starting with quarterback Sam Ehlinger. I’ll tell you what, I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. Ehlinger was not only one of the better senior quarterbacks, but he actually made my top 5 when I previewed the position including the underclassman.”
While Brugler continued to speak of high praise regarding Ehlinger, he also reiterated that he’s spoken to several other NFL scouts who have the same top five quarterbacks on their list this year as well.
He’s seen different grades on Ehlinger ranging from the third and fourth rounds, but one team in particular had a preseason second-round grade on the senior signal caller from Texas.
Many scouts are understandably uncertain on how Ehlinger’s game will translate to the next level. However, Brugler brought up former Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts being selected in the second round last year. NFL teams are evolving with the game and therefore see the value of players such as Hurts and Ehlinger.
They each possess sought-after tangibles such as their leadership and competitive spirit, but they may not be the most prolific passer on the field.
“With Ehlinger, I need to see him be a little more on point with ball placement. He has room to grow, but when you watch him – he is using his legs. He is so tough. There is a lot of movement in the offense that Texas uses, it’s designed to move the pocket and get Ehlinger out in space to use that part of his game and it’s something that is really hard to defend.”
Before watching tape on quarterbacks this year, Brugler did not expect Ehlinger to jump out as one of the top two or three seniors at the position. With time to improve on his accuracy as a passer, it’s certainly realistic that Ehlinger could be one of the top NFL Draft prospects coming out of Texas in 2021.
In 2019, Ehlinger accounted for the second-most yards of total offense in school history with 4,326 yards. He currently leads all active FBS quarterbacks in completions (571), attempts (879), passing yards (6,955), total offense (8,100) and total touchdowns (80) since the start of the 2018 season.
One of the most pleasant attributes that Ehlinger possesses is that he consistently shows up to play against the toughest competition. He’s defeated No. 5 Georgia and No. 11 Utah in Texas’ last two bowl appearances and became the first quarterback to throw for more than 400 yards against LSU since 2011.