Texas Football: PFF slots Sam Ehlinger just behind Fields, Lawrence for 2020

Pro Football Focus recently gave some thoughts on where rising senior Texas football QB Sam Ehlinger fits into the national conversation this year.

The quarterback position needs to be at its best for the looming 2020 season for the Texas football program, especially if head coach Tom Herman wants to come closer to meeting preseason expectations this year compared to last. Texas saw a breakthrough from their starting quarterback during the 2018 season, but a lot of the solid play from his supporting cast diminished last year.

As a result, the Texas Longhorns football program finished up last season with a record of 8-5 (5-4 Big 12) after beating the Utah Utes in the Alamo Bowl by the final score of 38-10. Winning just seven games in the regular season last year caused Herman to turnover much of his coaching staff. None of the previous coordinators stayed on hand (outside of co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Herb Hand), so this is likely the last fresh slate for Herman.

This is one of the multiple reasons why the Longhorns need solid play from the quarterback position to escalate their success come this fall.

Pro Football Focus recently published a piece on who they felt would be the nation’s top quarterbacks behind the likes of Trevor Lawrence of the Clemson Tigers and Justin Fields of the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Longhorns rising senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger sat right in the midst of this particular conversation with PFF too.

In this piece from PFF, they opened up the conversation on who could be the third best quarterback in 2020 beyond the consensus top two (Lawrence and Fields). And who really knows, maybe one of these quarterbacks in the conversation beyond Fields and Lawrence could win the Heisman Trophy this fall.

More specifically, PFF forwarded an argument for and against other top quarterbacks like Ehlinger and Iowa State’s Brock Purdy to be one of the nation’s best at the position this year. Here was the argument for Ehlinger.

"Over the last two seasons, Ehlinger has produced a two-year overall grade that is the fifth-best at his position and has been among the 10 most valuable players in the country both years. Ehlinger has squeezed some impressive throws into tight windows in that span — his 33 big-time throws to a tight window since 2018 is tied with Burrow for most. He’s been particularly good when leading the receiver across the field — his horizontal lead passes have been his bread and butter. Ehlinger’s grade on such throws and accurate pass rate both crack the top-five."

The main argument against Ehlinger was that his decision making when the pocket breaks down is not up to par. Another point against him was that he has an over reliance on his mobility at times and it causes him to miss better options on plays that might be starting to break down.

Last season, Ehlinger rallied up well over 4,000 total yards, 39 total touchdowns, and his best completion percentage and passer efficiency rating of his college career to date. He did all that while tossing just 10 picks (roughly one interception per 46 passing attempts). There’s a lot of signs that point to Ehlinger going nowhere but up during his senior season.