Casey Thompson vs. Hudson Card: Which Longhorn QB Candidate Has The Edge?

Casey Thompson vs. Hudson Card Preview: Which Texas Longhorns QB Will Get the Starting Job?

With Sam Ehlinger entering the NFL draft, Texas will now have a quarterback battle between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card.

“I feel pretty good [about quarterbacks] at this point,” said new head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Following an impressive summer camp performance, the previous coaching staff favored that Card will be Texas’s future starting quarterback. At the same time, Thompson showed glimpses of greatness during the Alamo Bowl.

Thompson came off the bench for the injured Ehlinger. After taking the field, he threw for 170 yards on 8-of-10 with four touchdowns in the Longhorns' 55-23 victory over Colorado.

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Here are Sarkisian's thoughts on choosing a starting quarterback:

“I mean I haven’t seen them live, which is concerning for me, considering I’m the quarterback guy," Sarkisian said. "But I do like the maturity of [Thompson]. I like what he brought in the [Alamo Bowl] game. You got a pretty good feel. We’ve obviously dug into a lot of practice tape. I like the skill set of Hudson Card. I think he’s a really talented player, and you see that when you dig into the practice tape.”

"I think we’ve got two kind-of frontline guys to start the process, and then bringing Charles (Wright) here," Sarkisian continued. "And then we’ll see what we end up doing moving forward in the ’22 and ’23 class.”

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Thompson appears to be the frontrunner for the starting job for several reasons, namely his experience and familiarity with the program. His contributions during the Alamo Bowl show that he is capable of carrying the load and being the face of the Longhorns. 

Card, on the other hand, was regarded highly by Texas’s previous coaching staff, he simply hasn’t had enough of an opportunity to prove himself. That said, the talent and tools are there.

Nevertheless, Sarkisian should and will hold a fair battle between the two quarterbacks and assess what he sees from there.