Do Texas Longhorns Have Best QB Room in College Football?

The Longhorns are stacked at quarterback heading into their first SEC season.
April 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA: Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws a pass while
April 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA: Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws a pass while / Sara Diggins/USA Today Sports via

The Texas Longhorns are loaded for bear heading into their inagrual SEC season.

Whether it is elite players in the trenches, secondary, pass rush or pass catchers, the Longhorns have it all.

However, the best part of their roster might also be the most important one, with the Longhorns possessing not one, but two of the nation's most talented quarterbacks in Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning.

In fact, according to On3's Jesse Simonton, the Horns are better equipped in the QB room than any other program in the nation, coming in ahead of other national powers Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, and Alabama, who rounded out the top five.

April 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA: Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws a pass while
April 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA: Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws a pass while / Sara Diggins/USA Today Sports via

"Steve Sarkisian is blessed with the best quarterback situation in America in 2024: He has a Top 5 starter in Quinn Ewers, who has the talent to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft," Simonton wrote. "He then has Arch Manning waiting in the wings, and the former top recruit could be an X-factor for the Longhorns this fall if Ewers, who has missed games the last two seasons, gets hurt. Even freshman signee Trey Owens looked promising in Texas’ spring game."

On paper, it is hard to argue Simonton's points.

Ewers might be the best returning QB in the nation, and based on what we saw from Manning this spring, as well as in his dominant performance in the Orange-White game last month, there might not be a better QB1/QB2 duo in college football.

That said, our only argument against Texas holding the title would likely be that Manning has yet to see meaningful snaps at the college level, meaning that things could look different once the lights turn on and he is facing a No. 1 defense in a pressure situation.

However, when it comes down to it, that is a major nitpick, and the same critiques could be made for most of the other programs in the Top-5 as well.

Either way, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian looks to have the Longhorns in better shape than they have ever been in terms of the quarterback position.

And with Trey Owens also sitting in that room, alongside the incoming talents of KJ Lacey in 2025, it should remain that way for a long time.


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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.