Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is without a doubt one of the most exciting players to watch in the country.
Many fall in love with his pure competitive drive, his willingness to put his body on the line to get the job done. Others simply respect his progression and productivity each season that passes.
Since the start of his sophomore year in 2018, Ehlinger leads all FBS quarterbacks in yards of total offense, total touchdowns, passing yards, pass attempts, and pass completions.
After his impressive junior campaign, Ehlinger quickly cemented his name in school history with several single-season records. However, there’s always room for improvement. Texas head coach Tom Herman recently joined the ESPN College Football Podcast with Kevin Negandhi and David Pollack, where two specific areas of improvement jumped out to him.
Ehlinger isn’t necessarily injury prone, since he didn’t miss a single game last season. However, he’s taken quite the beating and many of those contests had more to do with his pain tolerance. He played through a painful rib injury for a significant portion of last season.
The very same attributes that make him such a unique and exciting player to watch is also what could hurt him the most. Herman specifically wants to see Ehlinger make smarter decisions in order to protect his physical health.
“He plays with such reckless abandon and you love it about him and appreciate it about him, but he and I have had these conversations where he can be a little bit more judicious on the amount and types of hits that he takes. We’re going to need him to stay completely healthy this year.”
Another area that Ehlinger has been focused on improving this offseason is his off-platform throws. Herman would like to see Ehlinger get the ball out quickly from different arm angles and platforms.
If you’ve been able to witness an ounce of Ehlinger’s determination, drive, and leadership, then there’s no doubt that you can expect him to showcase his progression in these two areas this season.