Texas Football: Imagining Sam Ehlinger 2019 NFL Draft slotting

The 2019 NFL Draft begins on April 25, and there will be a few players coming out of the Texas football program in this class not including Sam Ehlinger.

The 2019 NFL Draft is just days away from arriving as the 2019 college football off-season has gone by pretty fast thus far. The presence of spring camp and an Orange-White Game that had a lot of building hype two weekends ago made this off-season go by in speedy fashion thus far for the Texas football program. A focal point of the off-season thus far too for Texas football is rising junior star signal caller Sam Ehlinger.

As a potential prime Heisman contender for the coming season and one of the best returning players in the Big 12, Sam Ehlinger is going to have a ton of eyes nationally falling on his play. Registering more than 40 total touchdowns while efficiently taking care of the football will gain Sam Ehlinger attention from every level, including the NFL.

It would be tough to expect Sam Ehlinger to take another giant leap forward in 2019 like he did during his sophomore campaign. The progression he showed between his freshman and sophomore seasons was immense. He was possibly the most improved quarterback in the Big 12 last season.

However, this improvement didn’t do much in terms of the immediate impact for Ehlinger’s NFL Draft stock. He wasn’t even eligible to declare early for the 2019 NFL Draft, as former Texas football wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey did, since he was exiting his second full year in college.

A few of the common knocks on Ehlinger are fair concerning his ability to succeed in the NFL. His game isn’t ability on his ability to make all the throws while stepping up in the pocket. He’s a bowling ball that likes to power run up the middle and steamroll opposing tacklers. The arm accurracy he showed last season was a big improvement, though.

The size factor also won’t help Ehlinger that much in terms of his NFL Draft stock. Although he is bigger than the former Oklahoma Sooners Heisman-winning quarterback Kyler Murray, he doesn’t have the same release time and arm strength.

Murray is possibly the most highly touted quarterback in this 2019 NFL Draft class. If Ehlinger were to come out of the Texas football program early into this draft class at quarterback, he would likely be a borderline day three selection.

At best, we could see Ehlinger take another big step forward in his throwing ability and how reliably he can make all the throws. Head Texas football coach Tom Herman and offensive coordinator Tim Beck run a variety of looks on their route tree, and that could help Ehlinger transition better to the next level.

He would have to rely more on his arm than his legs in the NFL if Sam Ehlinger wanted to thrive at that level. With how injury prone he already is on the Forty Acres and dating back to his high school football days, Ehlinger would have to reshape his game. Although, he would still be an intriguing prospect to fill a very specific role with an NFL team that needs to shake things up in the backfield.