Tag: Hudson Card

Texas’ quarterback battle will be one of the toughest in the nation

247Sports released a list of the toughest quarterback battles around the nation.

Steve Sarkisian will have another tough decision to make at the quarterback position in 2022.

There may even be some added pressure due to the fact that in 2021, he quickly changed his mind on Hudson Card.

This offseason Sarkisian will be deciding between Card and Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers, who as a recruit held the highest rating in recruiting history. A rating so high that only a handful of others have achieved, with one of them being Longhorn legend Vince Young.

Card has the advantage of being in the system longer and even built some momentum at the end of last season. However, Ewers has seemingly already won over the locker room with his arm talent and rapping skills.

247Sports recently released a list of the toughest quarterback battles around the nation, and Texas was one of the many powerhouses featured.

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The Longhorns quarterback battle came in at No. 2 behind Florida, and ahead of schools like Clemson, Texas A&M, and Auburn.

Both Card and Ewers have a chance to take a lead in spring ahead of the fall camp, but this battle could end up being decided a few days before the first game.

When it comes to the QB carousel, Texas among the big winners

The coaching carousel wasn’t near as wild as the quarterback carousel and Texas came out smelling like roses.

If you thought the coaching carousel of the past year was wild, boy do I have another carousel for you. The quarterbacks.

It began with Quinn Ewers opting to leave the Ohio State Buckeyes just one semester after his arrival. He initially committed to Texas before flipping to Ohio State and reclassifying in the 2021 class. With CJ Stroud as the starter, Ewers wasn’t likely to see much playing time until the 2023 season, at best.

After a brief recruitment across the state that involved Texas, TCU, and Texas Tech, Ewers came full circle and committed to the Longhorns. Head coach Steve Sarkisian landed the big fish from the transfer portal. While Texas watched their rivals north of the Red River lose both five-star quarterbacks on the roster and another five-star commit.

Based on the quarterback carousel winners and losers from 247Sports, Texas came away looking stronger than they did in 2021. They were among the top schools, along with the USC Trojans who landed former Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams.

What 247Sports Says…

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Texas lost a good Power Five starter in (Casey) Thompson. But it added a first-round talent at quarterback in (Quinn) Ewers, who can simply make throws most people cannot. In Steve Sarkisian’s offense Ewers could well be the missing piece to, ahem, help Texas return to the success it had in the 2000s. There’s a winding path between Ewers’ arrival and that sort of destination. But Ewers’ arrival makes that feel possible.

Ewers’ high school head coach Riley Dodge had high praise for his former quarterback. “I think probably the one thing that’s the most impressive about him is how twitchy he is as a thrower,” Dodge said. “He can put the ball on the perimeter — quick game, spits, RPOs, I’m talking about from the line of scrimmage to 12 yards down the field — better than anybody I’ve ever seen live.”

It won’t be a job that Ewers is just handed for the 2022 season, but one he will have to win the job outright. Not that he isn’t capable but he is battling a couple of quarterbacks that are talented. Hudson Card won the starting job in 2021 but was pulled in favor of Casey Thompson. Coming out of the 2020 recruiting class, Card was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the country.

Maalik Murphy is the 2022 signee to pay attention to. He was initially rated as a five-star prospect. He is a bit raw in terms of playing the position but he has a high ceiling. Of the three passers, Card has the most experience but even that is limited.

Ewers has all the tools to be the guy at Texas, and I fully expect him to win the job by the time they open the season against UL-Monroe on Sept. 3.

LOOK: Texas QB Hudson Card poses with Sam Ehlinger after workout

Sam Ehlinger and Hudson Card getting that offseason work in.

It never hurts to get advice from your elders.

That remains especially true when your elder was the best quarterback at Texas since the legendary Colt McCoy and Vince Young days. That is what current Longhorns quarterback Hudson Card was doing on Monday, as he was photographed with Sam Ehlinger.

Both Card and Ehlinger are in a similar situation in a way, as the Colts are looking to get rid of Carson Wentz, which could give Ehlinger a chance to compete for the starting job. Card on the other hand will have to go through his second quarterback battle as a Longhorn, this time against Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers.

This will likely prove to be a huge challenge for Card, as Ewers has generated so much hype he is already considered a Heisman candidate by some. Even though Card went on to lose the starting job to Casey Thompson last season, he did show signs of improvement in the last couple games when Thompson was pulled for his lackluster performances.

Ehlinger seems like he would be a great mentor to learn from, but Card will have to use everything he has learned and then some to out-duel Ewers.

The Big 12’s top returning quarterbacks ranked by production

The Big 12 will see quite a bit of turnover at quarterback this fall, but who are the top returning quarterbacks based on 2021 production.

The Big 12 conference will experience a ton of turnover at the quarterback position heading into 2022. Oklahoma, Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas, and West Virginia will all have new faces at quarterback. Baylor and Oklahoma State have solidified starters in place with Gerry Bohanon and Spencer Sanders. Texas Tech, Kansas, and TCU have options from 2021 returning for quarterback battles.

With Caleb Williams, Spencer Rattler, Brock Purdy, Skylar Thompson, and Jarret Doege gone, there isn’t a ton of returning production from the 2021 season in the Big 12. However, Dillon Gabriel, Quinn Ewers, and Adrian Martinez bring some name value to the position despite playing elsewhere in 2021.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 returning quarterbacks based on 2021 production.

Predicting which Big 12 quarterbacks may transfer if they lose the starting job

These Big 12 quarterbacks could be on the move if they lose their position battle this offseason.

There are three things certain in life: death, taxes, and college quarterbacks transferring after losing out on the starting job.

This offseason was a prime example of the newfound era of quarterback movement, whether it be to follow a coach, or to go to a school where they wouldn’t be buried on the depth chart. While it may have been a tad more extreme this offseason, with some of the best quarterbacks in the nation transferring due to the insane amount of movement on the coaching carousel, it will still be a common sight to see quarterbacks move on.

Unlike almost every other position on the field, there is only one quarterback on the field, and most teams hate to rotate quarterbacks. This leads to quarterbacks, especially the ones who have been waiting their turn, to look elsewhere for a chance to win the starting job somewhere else.

This is something that we very well could see a lot of around the Big 12 in the coming months after or even during spring ball, when the depth chart starts to shape up. There are multiple schools that will have a quarterback battle on their hands, and many experienced quarterbacks will likely go elsewhere should they lose out.

Here are some of the players who I believe will be transfer portal candidates if they lose the starting job this offseason.

Bleacher Report projects Texas QB Hudson Card to lose job and transfer

Many believe Hudson Card will hit the road if he loses the job in favor of Quinn Ewers.

This may be writing on the wall, or it very well could be too premature to even know what decision Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will make at the quarterback position.

Regardless of what we think about Texas’ quarterback decision, the only person whose opinion matters is the head coach. However, due to the addition of Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers, there is an assumption around the country that he will snatch the job from Hudson Card.

Ewers, who decided to forgo his senior season of high school and enroll at Ohio State to chase a bag or two, is now back in his home state and there is an expectation that the former No. 1 overall recruit with a perfect rating will not be sitting for long. This means that Card, who initially won the starting job in 2021 but was quickly pulled after struggling in the Week 2 loss to Arkansas, would be the second fiddle again.

It is hard to imagine he would want to wait to battle Ewers and the future of the quarterback room again after the season, so outlets like Bleacher Report have already picked out he and other quarterbacks who might lose the job and where they could transfer to.

Bleacher Report predicted for Card to end up in the Big 12 again, but this time he would be suiting up for Matt Campbell and Iowa State.

There’s almost too much hype surrounding Ewers for there to be any end game besides him trotting out with the 1s in Texas’ season opener on September 3 against Louisiana-Monroe.

If that’s the case, will it be enough to push Austin native Hudson Card elsewhere? With the uncertainty surrounding Ewers and incoming freshman Maalik Murphy, it would be wise of the Longhorns lifer to stay, but he may not.

If he left, the Iowa State Cyclones would make a ton of sense. Attending a fellow Big 12 school, Card has a bunch of familiarity with the program. He also had to see Brock Purdy’s success the past few seasons and believe he could thrive under head coach Matt Campbell.

With Hunter Dekkers virtually unproven and competing with incoming freshman Rocco Becht, Card could head to Ames and win that job. Campbell has built a quality program at a school not known for its football, and despite a disappointing season in 2021, strong pieces remain.

Card won Texas’ starting job last year as a redshirt freshman before being replaced by Casey Thompson and has a lot of upside, especially considering how much eligibility he has left. He could be a coup for Campbell.

It does seem that it is only a matter of when Ewers will take over as the starter, but to give Card credit, even after he struggled at the beginning of the season in 2021, he showed flashes of potential in the last few games when he came in for Casey Thompson.

This quarterback battle has a chance to be career altering in so many ways, and as of right now Card is the favorite to end up at a different school.

Texas’ quarterback battle among Bleacher Report’s toughest decisions of 2022

This quarterback battle could be one of the toughest decisions Steve Sarkisian has to make.

This offseason may seem like a case of déjà vu for Texas fans as they are going into the next season not knowing who their starting quarterback is.

After an offseason quarterback battle last year between Casey Thompson (now at Nebraska), and Hudson Card, Texas has yet another close competition on their hands. While Card is competing to win and hold onto the spot again, he is up against one of the most highly touted quarterback recruits in the history of college football, Quinn Ewers.

You would think having a lot of talent at the quarterback position is a good issue to have, but that is only if you make the right decision as to who should start. A decision that Steve Sarkisian seemed to never fully believe in during the 2021 season.

This time there feels like there is a sense of added pressure around picking the right quarterback from the jump, and it will not be easy by any means. Bleacher Report even included Texas’ quarterback battle in their toughest decisions for 2022.

Here is what they said about the Longhorns quarterback decision:

One of the biggest names added to Texas’ quarterback room was former Ohio State Buckeye Quinn Ewers. Ewers, a former 5-star QB prospect and the No. 1 overall signal-caller from the class of 2021, lost out to Heisman finalist C.J. Stroud for the Buckeyes’ starting job prior to the 2021 season. Ewers played high school football at Southlake Carroll in Texas.

But Ewers won’t be the only Longhorns QB with a chance to start. He’ll likely compete against Texas’ class of 2022 signee Maalik Murphy. Murphy is a 4-star QB prospect who was the No. 12 quarterback in the class of 2022 out of Gardena, California. As a senior at Junipero Serra High School last season, Murphy threw for 2,973 yards and 22 touchdowns with nine interceptions.

Ewers and Murphy will also join a quarterback room that includes Hudson Card, a former 4-star QB prospect. Card started in two games last year for Texas before Thompson took over for him. Card redshirted in 2020, so he will enter 2022 as a redshirt sophomore.

Not only will this decision affect next season, but it could very well impact the team’s quarterback situation for years to come.

Biggest questions surrounding Texas football in 2022

Although there’s increased hype surrounding the program, Texas still has some questions to address this offseason.

With the offseason free agency market coming to a close, otherwise known as the transfer portal and recruiting madness, it is just about that time to start looking ahead to next season.

Texas and their fans have all the reasons in the world to look forward, because in their rear view mirror is a dreadful 5-7 season under Steve Sarkisian that featured historic collapses and a record breaking six-game losing streak.

The staff was able to recover after their season came to an end, as they pulled in the No. 5 recruiting class in the nation, while also bringing in a top-10 class of transfers to address major holes all over the roster.

Rather than being able to build off a successful season, Sarkisian finds himself in a similar position as he did the previous offseason which is instilling the culture and having to figure out what will work for this team and how to best utilize the talent at hand.

This team on paper should be much more talented than what Sarkisian inherited last season, but there are still a ton of pieces and nuances the he must figure out.

Here are a few of the biggest questions surrounding Texas in 2022.

Steve Sarkisian on QBs: ‘Don’t get caught up in the next guy’

Sark has a message for his talented quarterback room.

The Texas Longhorns and head coach Steve Sarkisian have a problem on the Forty Acres. It just isn’t exactly a bad one to have. Heading into the 2022 season, he has a plethora of quarterback talent on the roster.

Hudson Card and Charles Wright return from the 2021 roster. Card signed with the Longhorns in the 2020 recruiting class under Tom Herman and returns for his third season in Austin. He won the job in fall camp last season but Sark opted for Casey Thompson, who is now in Nebraska. Wright signed with Texas in the 2021 class after flipping from Iowa State prior to Herman being ousted in Austin.

Sarkisian added two quarterbacks to the equation this year with Maalik Murphy in the 2022 class and Quinn Ewers through the transfer portal. Three of the four quarterbacks in the room were rated as four-star or five-star prospects. The talent isn’t a question at all for the second-year head coach coming off the 5-7 campaign in 2021.

It is also no secret that Texas is targeting yet another top quarterback for the upcoming 2023 class with Arch Manning. The staff has extended just three offers with Manning, Malachi Nelson, and Tad Hudson. Nelson is committed to USC and Hudson has pledged to his hometown UNC Tar Heels. All the eggs are in the basket of Manning at this point in the process.

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While Sark is loading up with options at the most important position on the field, he doesn’t want his players to get caught up with who could be here or who is coming.

When addressing the media on Feb. 2, Sark had a message for that group.

“I think the biggest thing for all these guys is focusing on what they need to do individually”, Sark said. “Don’t get caught up in what the guy next to them is working on, or what we’re working on with him. But focus on what they need to do, and let us pour into them to develop them.”

It is an important message, not just for the quarterbacks on this team. Focus on what you can control and let everything else go. When you focus on what you actually have control over, it makes the process that much easier.

“Not everybody is going to develop at the same pace and the same rate, and everybody is at a different stage in their career,” Sarkisian says. “Trusting our history of developing quarterbacks to dive into you individually, and here’s what we want you to work on and make that happen.”

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Texas’ biggest strengths and weaknesses heading into 2022

Texas still has many question marks they need to address, but also have the chance to excel in some areas.

Steve Sarkisian and Texas have had as good of an offseason as they could have asked for after a disappointing 5-7 campaign.

Texas signed a top-five recruiting class that focused on adding much-needed talent to the trenches. 13 of the 27 signees are either offensive linemen or on the defensive front seven. Kelvin Banks became the first five-star offensive lineman to sign with Texas since the 2009 cycle.

The Horns also hit big in the transfer portal, bringing four guys who will push for immediate playing time. Former Alabama tight end Jahleel Billingsley and Wyoming wide receiver Isaiah Neyor are proven players ready to contribute. Ohio State transfers Quinn Ewers and Ryan Watts were targeted by many schools after entering the portal.

Texas will continue to look to use the portal this offseason as more players will presumably enter the portal after spring ball.

Looking ahead to the 2022 season, Texas still has many question marks they need to address, but they also have the chance to excel in some areas.

Here are Texas’ biggest strengths and weaknesses heading into 2022: