Texas Football: Where Sporting News ranked Sam Ehlinger among 2021 draft QB’s

The 2021 NFL Draft could feature Texas football rising senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger as maybe one of the first five quarterbacks off the board.

Although there was a pretty weak 2019 NFL Draft class at the quarterback position, it wouldn’t be long before the talent pool would pickup. The 2020 NFL Draft quarterback class featured a good amount of skill and depth, just some uncertainty given team fits and injury concerns. And the 2021 draft class among the signal callers could be the deepest in recent memory, and will feature a prominent star rising senior out of the Texas football program Sam Ehlinger.

There hasn’t been a single quarterback out of the Texas Longhorns football program that was even selected on day two of the NFL Draft since 2010, when Colt McCoy was picked up by the Cleveland Browns. A good run of quarterback talent through the Forty Acres in the 2000’s saw its momentum die out during the last decade.

But the 6-foot-3 and 230 pound Ehlinger could be the reversal in the trend that the Longhorns have looked for in the NFL Draft. It’s really hard to put a finger on exactly where Ehlinger will fall in next year’s draft, given how deep the quarterback class is and the mixed reviews on what he brings to the table at the next level.

The difficulty in finding a pro comparison for Ehlinger is part of the reason why this uncertainty exists. The comparisons with former Florida Gator Tim Tebow isn’t very valid in terms of arm talent, and the Cam Newton comp isn’t accurate in terms of speed and frame.

However, Sporting News did put Ehlinger in a spot on their list of the top 10 quarterback prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft class late last month that makes some sense. Sporting News ranked Ehlinger No. 6 in their top 10 best quarterbacks for the 2021 draft class.

Here’s what they had to say on their placement of Ehlinger in this ranking.

"Ehlinger will be one of the more interesting quarterbacks on the board next year because of his unique skillset. The 6-3, 230-pound quarterback returned for his senior year, and he has piled up 68 passing TDs and 25 rushing TDs with the Longhorns.Ehlinger’s accuracy has improved with each season, and that will need to continue heading into the next level."

That is a vague description for a scouting report, but describes a lot of the uncertainty that is going around in discussions pertaining to Ehlinger’s draft stock this offseason.

The top five quarterbacks in this ranking for the 2021 class from Sporting News included in order: Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields, Georgia’s Jamie Newman, Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond, and Mississippi State’s K.J. Costello. The only problem that we would have there is the placement of Mond, since there should be more uncertainty surrounding the translation of his skill set to the NFL than with Ehlinger’s.

Out of the Big 12, the only other quarterback prospect that made the top 10 for Sporting News was Iowa State’s Brock Purdy (at No. 8). Ehlinger and Purdy are likely to be the first two Big 12 quarterbacks off draft boards next year, at least as it stands now, so this placement has some merit to it.