Reese’s Senior Bowl: Sam Ehlinger and the 3 most intriguing invitees

3) Reese’s Senior Bowl intriguing invitees

The lone Longhorn to accept an invite to the Senior Bowl thus far is also one of the more interesting cases for the 2021 NFL Draft. There’s some experts and fans around the football landscape that feel that Ehlinger could fall as high as a second or third round pick in the 2021 draft. On the other end of the spectrum, some also have Ehlinger falling as a sixth or seventh round pick.

Wherever Ehlinger falls onto the spectrum, he’s going to have to take less hits in the NFL than he has in college. He is usually dealing with some injury, whether he’s healthy enough to play or not, and his accuracy has suffered quite a bit this season. The 6-foot-3 and 225 pound dual-threat signal caller is on pace to post his first completion percentage below 60 for the first time since his freshman campaign this fall.

So far in seven games played this season, Ehlinger registered 1,834 passing yards, 58.8 completion percentage, 22 passing touchdowns, five interceptions, 8.2 adjusted yards per passing attempt, a 145.5 passer efficiency rating, 323 rushing yards, and seven rushing scores. The drop in adjusted yards per passing attempt, completion percentage, and passer efficiency rating, this year compared to the last two are not good signs for Ehlinger.

But the good news is that Ehlinger has shown a lot of progress in other areas of his game. He is getting smarter with the way he uses his legs as a weapon. And the passing accuracy drop could be due in large part to the change in offensive scheme this year under the direction of first-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.