Shedeur Sanders got all the publicity for enduring his high-profile free fall during the 2025 NFL Draft. Quinn Ewers also sustained a dramatic fall, waiting until the seventh round to hear his name called.
The Miami Dolphins ended Ewers’ suffering by making him the 231st overall pick, and one long-time analyst recently broke down why the Texas quarterback fell so far.
Greg Cosell Rips Quinn Ewers’ Tape
Ewers was the nation’s top recruit coming out of high school and initially committed to Texas before flipping to Ohio State. He appeared in one game for the Buckeyes as a true freshman but didn’t throw a pass, and transferred to Texas for the 2022 season.
He started every game he appeared in at Texas, amassing a 27-9 career record. Ewers led the Longhorns to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances, but never got further than the semifinal round.
Ewers posted two straight 3,400+ yard seasons in his final two years at Texas, totaling 53 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Despite his high recruiting ranking and productive years at Texas, Ewers wasn’t seen as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 draft class. Some even felt he wasn’t the best quarterback on his team.
Arch Manning lingered over Ewers’ shoulder the last two seasons, and filled in whenever the starter went down. Ewers always returned quickly from an injury, but Manning was the specter that ultimately led him to leave school after the 2024 season.
His arm strength and big-play flashes drove Texas to another CFP semifinal appearance, but his mechanics and processing were big red flags, according to PFSN’s Ian Cummings. In his report, Cummings wrote, “While Ewers’ arm elasticity can correct imperfect mechanics to a degree, his accuracy to all thirds can be inconsistent because of his lacking base discipline. Additionally, as a processor, his progression work and anticipation also require more consistency.”
This sentiment was matched by long-time NFL analyst Greg Cosell who recently appeared on the “Ross Tucker Podcast” and discussed Ewers’ NFL outlook.
“I watched Quinn Ewers for three years in great detail… I'm just being honest, I don't think his tape was very good.”@GregCosell gives his thoughts on the Dolphins new QB: pic.twitter.com/V7mFtnjCkM
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod)
Cosell said, “I watched Quinn Ewers for three years in great detail because I kept thinking he would come out. Because, as most people know, he was the number one quarterback coming out of a major program in the state of Texas. So he’s been on everyone’s radar for a long time. So I watched him for three straight years.
“I’m just being honest, I don’t think his tape was very good. I think that there’s a lot of things that need to be cleaned up. I think that his lower body mechanics are not very good at all. He has poor footwork. He has a lack of balance. He doesn’t throw with a firm base. I think that he falls away from a lot of throws. He struggles when there are people around him.”
Cosell noted that landing in Miami with Mike McDaniel could help Ewers. He said, “I think that’s a major deal. Now, you can make that argument that with Mike McDaniel and a system where you hit your back foot and the ball comes out, that would help him.”
The Dolphins finished No. 15 in PFSN’s Offense+ metric last season despite Tua Tagovailoa missing six games. Tagovailoa finished eighth in PFSN’s QB+ metric, so McDaniel knows how to put his quarterback in good spots.
The clip ended with Cosell being brutally honest about Ewers’ tape. He said, “I think he ultimately was drafted where he was because there were clear concerns watching his tape. This all comes from tape, Ross, not of this, as you know, is personal. If a team thought Quinn Ewers could come in and be the guy, he wouldn’t have been drafted where he was.”
It’s not impossible to go from seventh-round pick to starter (Brock Purdy), but Ewers will have his work cut out for him. The Dolphins signed Zach Wilson to backup Tagovailoa, so Ewers has to focus on the QB2 job before thinking about anything else.
