Where could Quinn Ewers be selected after declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft?

In a draft light on quarterback talent, Texas star Quinn Ewers is capitalizing. The former No. 1 high school recruit is leaving the Longhorns after three seasons to jump to the NFL.

Ewers played a major role in answering the question whether Texas was, in fact, back (the answer? Mostly). The five-star gunslinger arrived in Austin after head coach Steve Sarkisian's 2021 debut ended with a 5-7 thud. Over the next three years he'd lead the Longhorns to 33 wins, a successful SEC debut and, most importantly, a pair of College Football Playoff invitations.

He announced his departure with a slickly edited video on social media.

Where could he be drafted? Ewers will benefit from the fact this is a volatile and shallow crop of recognizable quarterback prospects. However, his stock has fluctuated wildly amid turnover issues and uneven performances. Is he the quarterback that dismantled Oklahoma State in 2023's Big 12 title game en route to 452 passing yards and four touchdowns? Or is he the guy who struggled in the SEC title game in December, throwing a pair of interceptions and eventually losing to Georgia's backup quarterback?

Per the NFL Mock Draft Database, his pro stock slipped throughout the 2024 season. His consensus big board rank peaked at No. 7 but now stands at No. 51 -- and even that is a rebound from a drop to 71st place among this year's crop of draftable talent.

That doesn't mean he's doomed to wait anxiously on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft. While Cameron Ward and Shedeur Sanders are seemingly locked in as this spring's top two quarterback prospects, the third slot behind them is wide open. Several teams need passers in this year's draft, including teams that lie outside the top five draft picks that will likely be unable to take a swing at Ward or Sanders. The Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers could all use a high potential young gunslinger like Ewers.

That doesn't mean they'd draft him at their current slots, but one of these teams could trade back into to the tail end of the first round to snag him. Otherwise, Ewers's availability could spark a bidding war for the top picks of Day 2, when the second and third rounds commence.

All that is dependent on him testing well at the NFL Scouting Combine and giving coaching staffs the answers they want to hear in pre-draft interviews. For a player once expected to be the savior of two different blue blood programs (Texas and Ohio State, where he began his college career), Ewers should rate highly on that first part. The latter could be the difference between sneaking into the first round or languishing to the middle of the draft.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Where could Quinn Ewers be selected after declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft?