Quinn Ewers, QB/Texas
With an impressive improvement from 8-5 in 2022 to 12-2, Big Ten Champions, and a Sugar Bowl appearance, Texas was among one of the nation's top teams within two years. That can be attributed to the star play of Ewers, who is the nation's top returning pocket passer after two stout seasons in Austin.
While playing sparingly as a redshirt freshman, Ewers still impressed with season totals of 2,177 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions on 58.1% completion in ten games. This past season, Ewers ascended to become one of the nation's premier passers, completing 272-394 (69.0%) pass attempts for 3,479 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and six interceptions for a 158.6 passer rating in 12 starts.
Just two seasons into his collegiate career, Ewers' 5,656 career passing yards rank eighth all-time in Texas history and his 37 career passing touchdowns are tied for seventh. Coupled with an All-Big 12 second team selection, Ewers has been projected to breakout as a junior this season, earning preseason nominations for the Maxwell Award, the Davey O'Brien Award, and the illustrious Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
At just 21 years old, Ewers continues to display impressive skills against some of the top competition in the nation. Take, for example, in week two when Ewers completed 24-38 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns to lead Texas to a stunning 34-24 upset over No. 11 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
It's worth noting that Ewers has a natural side-arm throw that allows him to effortlessly generate strong velocity on his passes. Due to this, Ewers can deliver sharp-thrown balls to his receivers anywhere on the field, a similar ability to that of Patrick Mahomes.