Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Three Big 12 players were listed on ESPN’s Heisman voting watch after one week of the 2020 college football season.
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Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger was awarded Big 12 and national weekly honors after his record-setting first half performance against UTEP on Saturday. Continue reading “ESPN’s Heisman Watch: Texas QB Sam Ehlinger, two other Big 12 players rise”
For the second-straight year, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger was named to the Manning Award watch list.
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger continues to add to his list of preseason honors. Continue reading “Texas QB Sam Ehlinger selected to Manning Award watch list”
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger has made ESPN’s list for top 10 quarterbacks in 2020. Where does the Austin native rank?
With spring practices for college football coming up, some schools have already started, ESPN ranked their top ten quarterbacks for the upcoming season. (Link requires subscription)
A lot has been made of Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger coming into his senior season in Austin. After forgoing the NFL Draft and deciding to return after receiving feed back from the NFL Advisory Board, the Austin native is poised to chase a Big 12 championship. The Longhorns spent an entire decade underperforming by their own standards, a new-look staff is ready to make their run.
On the list from ESPN there were two quarterbacks who hail from the Big 12 Conference, Sam Ehlinger was the top name listed of the two.
While Texas football isn’t quite back — as some thought it would be — Ehlinger has improved in every season of his collegiate career and will very likely give the program the quarterback play they need to get back to elite status.
After a subpar true freshman campaign in 2017 that resulted in a 66.4 overall grade, Ehlinger posted an 85.7 grade in 2018 and a 90.2 grade in 2019. He ranked among the 10 most valuable college football players in each of the past two seasons, while his two-year overall grade from 2018-19 ranks behind only Burrow, Lawrence, Tagovailoa and Nathan Rourke.
Ehlinger ranked number six with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence coming in at the top followed by Ohio State’s Justin Fields. Brock Purdy of Iowa State was the only other Big 12 quarterback who made the cut. With everyone zoned in on the Texas Longhorns and Ehlinger, the team has a lot of pressure to perform. Tom Herman is also feeling the heat which caused him to shuffle the cards with his staff.
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger reaggravated a rib injury that has kept him out of some conditioning and weight training this offseason.
It may not be significant for the time being, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Horns247 recently reported that Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger reaggravated a rib cartilage injury during winter workouts.
Eyes of Texas: Sam Ehlinger working through injury leading up to spring practice. https://t.co/HRXrMbJyl9 pic.twitter.com/AiBc6481dJ
— Horns247 (@Horns247) March 5, 2020
Ehlinger battled through this same injury throughout the 2019 season. His minor rib issue was first reported in September, it was enough to cause head coach Tom Herman to decrease his reps in practice prior to the West Virginia game.
A strained rib cartilage appears to be extremely painful and has kept him from participating in some conditioning and weight training this offseason.
At the moment, there’s no reason to rush him back.
Due to Ehlinger’s competitive and relentless nature, it is nearly impossible to keep him off of the field. If given the chance, he will battle through any injury or pain in an attempt to help his team succeed.
Ehlinger is the heart and soul of Texas’ offense. He put up over 4,000 yards of total offense as a junior which was third most in school history. If he continues to progress as he has each season, Ehlinger is a legitimate Heisman contender entering his senior season.
He needs to remain healthy in order to do that, hopefully this injury does not linger into the regular season.
Pro Football Focus recently named Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger the top returning player in the Big 12 for the 2020 season.
The accolades continue to pile on for Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
He has statistically progressed each year with the program. If the same path of development continues, he could realistically become a Heisman Trophy finalist as a senior. In 2019, he quietly surpassed several of Vince Young’s records such as career total offense, single season passing yards and total touchdowns.
That’s no easy feat, considering Young was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019 and is arguably the best to ever play at his position. Young’s dual-threat ability was unparalleled and is something Ehlinger hoped to shape his style of play around.
He has complete control over Texas’ offense. Everything starts and ends with him, which is why Pro Football Focus considers Ehlinger the top returning player in the Big 12 conference for the 2020 season.
PFF also lists Ehlinger as the sixth-most valuable player in the country over the past two seasons.
“His arm, though, is the reason why he lands at number one on this list. Ehlinger was forced to throw into a tight window at one of the 25 highest rates last season, and he didn’t let that hinder himself or the team. His tight-window passing grade was third in the country and his rate of accurate passes thrown was the eighth best. If Ehlinger can just cut back on his tendency to bail on clean pockets, improve his overall pocket presence and trust his arm, good things can happen for him and Texas.”
Ehlinger is known for his running abilities, but his accuracy has been one of the most pleasant improvements throughout his collegiate career. With left tackle Sam Cosmi returning to anchor the offensive line unit, Ehlinger’s protection should allow an ample amount of time for him to improve on his pocket presence.
Ehlinger will leave behind a similar legacy as Colt McCoy and Vince Young if he’s able to lead Texas to a National Championship this season.
