Texas Football: Gil Brandt sees Sam Ehlinger as top 50 2021 NFL Draft prospect

Former Cowboys executive Gil Brandt sees Texas football quarterback Sam Ehlinger as a top 50 prospect for the 2021 NFL Draft.

In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Texas football program had a better showing from its class coming off the Forty Acres than in 2019. Texas saw just two players selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, with the Houston Texans selected defensive end Charles Omenihu in the fifth round. There were at least two Texas Exes selected in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

For the 2021 NFL Draft, the Texas Longhorns football program should have much more success than they did in 2018, 2019, or 2020. There’s the potential of the Longhorns 2021 NFL Draft class to have numerous first round picks and finally have the same type of results that this program did in the years under former head coach Mack Brown.

A Pro Football Hall-of-Famer and former Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt recently mentioned who he thought would be the best senior quarterbacks in particular in the 2021 NFL Draft class. In a tweet from Brandt on May 4, he showed the world who he thought were his two early best senior quarterbacks in next year’s draft class.

Brandt stated that the “only two quarterbacks among my top 50 (remember, this is seniors only)” included Longhorns star Sam Ehlinger and Northwestern Wildcats former five-star recruit Hunter Johnson. Including Johnson in the top 50 is likely relying on talent alone since he hasn’t accomplished much of anything on the field since originally signing with head coach Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers as the top quarterback prospect in the country more than three years ago.

Ehlinger has registered nearly 9,000 passing yards and should close in on the 100-total touchdown mark during his senior campaign. Meanwhile, Johnson registered less than 450 passing yards, just one touchdown through the air, and four interceptions at Northwestern last season. Johnson how has three passing touchdowns and five interceptions in his career between Clemson and Northwestern.

Johnson has the big arm and prototypical quarterback frame to get this type of hype. But he’s actually going to have to show something on the field as Northwestern’s starting quarterback to prove his value for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Ehlinger is a potential Heisman candidate for the coming season, and he’s one of the best quarterbacks for Texas since the turn of the century. But his NFL Draft stock is going to hinge on how scouts feel his game translates.