Quinn Ewers did not play much during Texas’ spring football game and Arch Manning stole the show. The redshirt freshman quarterback balled out while the Longhorns’ incumbent starter spent most of his afternoon on the sideline.
It raised an interesting question of “what if?”
College football in the modern era is utter chaos. Athletes are moving around more than ever and NIL has a major impact on the landscape of the sport.
Ewers is not someone who necessarily “chased a bag” in Austin. His move did not correlate to financial opportunity. It was a chance to get back home and play for the team of which he grew up a fan.
However, there are a lot of people in and around the Texas program who are calling for Manning to take the reins from Ewers earlier than head coach Steve Sarkisian is willing. Especially after he finished 19-of-25 for 355 yards and three touchdowns at the spring game on Saturday.
Every throw from Arch Manning in the spring game 🔥🔥🔥
— Nash (@NashTalksTexas) April 20, 2024
Ladies and Gentleman…we might just have another legit Manning in the QB world pic.twitter.com/f0j1zuP7d6
That creates a unique hypothetical.
Ewers, the top-ranked recruit in the Class of 2022, reclassified to the Class of 2021 and committed to Ohio State. He spent one season with the Buckeyes. He was immediately tapped as QB1 upon arrival back to the Lone Star State.
What if Quinn Ewers never left Columbus?
Where there was some thought that the 6-foot-2 signal-caller would declare for the NFL Draft after his second year with the Longhorns, he chose to return for 2024. This will be his fourth year of football.
C.J. Stroud started over Ewers during his true freshman season. It would have been the same for 2022, which is part of why the latter decided to leave.
Here is where things get interesting.
Had he decided to stick around, Ryan Day likely would have named Ewers as the starter over Kyle McCord last year. His return for 2024 would have kept Ohio State from adding Will Howard.
The Buckeyes are expected to compete for a national championship this season. As are the Longhorns.
An alternate reality exists where Quinn Ewers starts for Day while Arch Manning starts for Sarkisian!!