Entering the 2021 offseason, Texas football head coach Tom Herman will have a busy time trying to figure out the look of this quarterback room.
The projected outlook for the quarterback room for the Texas football program was dramatically altered in recent weeks. Fourth-year head coach Tom Herman and first-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich will have a lot of work to do next offseason to pull together this quarterback group to figure out the best path forward for the 2021 season.
Herman and the Longhorns had a crutch to rely on in recent seasons with current senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger leading the way. But all indicators point to Ehlinger declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft following the conclusion of this season. And that makes sense given the amount of hits that Ehlinger took in the last few years, and that he can cash in on a decently high draft stock next year.
Ehlinger was the Longhorns starting quarterback that was set in stone for each of the last three seasons. He even split time as the starter in Herman’s first year at the helm, back during the 2017 season, with Shane Buechele. Once Ehlinger firmly won the starting job entering the 2018 season, Buechele would soon after put his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal and join the SMU Mustangs.
Texas will have a fairly new face to the Longhorns fan base taking the reigns as the starting quarterback in all likelihood next year. There wasn’t many other snaps that went around at the quarterback position in the recent past for Texas outside of Ehlinger.
Nonetheless, here’s an early look at how the 2021 quarterback depth chart could play out for Herman and the Longhorns.
Early projected 2021 Texas football QB room
Third string: Charles Wright
Unless the Longhorns turn to the NCAA Transfer Portal for help entering next offseason, it looks like the third stringer will be the incoming freshman three-star hometown recruit Charles Wright. This 6-foot-2 and 195 pound Austin High product ranks as the nation’s No. 884 2021 high school prospect, No. 32 pro-style quarterback, and No. 125 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the No. 26 pro-style quarterback and No. 126 prospect out of Texas.
All indications are pointing to Wright enrolling early, so he can get a leg up on any competition that might come his way in the near future come the start of spring camp.
As the lone quarterback signee, at this moment, in the Longhorns 2021 recruiting class, Wright looks to hold a future niche that could be crucial in this quarterback room. Herman, Yurcich, and the Longhorns went out and flipped the commitment of Wright from the Iowa State Cyclones to Texas after they lost a key quarterback of their own in the 2021 class.
Texas lost a commitment from the highly coveted four-star Katy-Tompkins dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe back before the start of the 2020 college football season. Milroe wound up re-opening his recruitment following the commitment of the elite five-star Southlake Carroll pro-style quarterback Quinn Ewers in the Longhorns 2022 class.
However, now Texas saw Milroe commit and sign with the Alabama Crimson Tide and Ewers flipped his commitment to the Ohio State Buckeyes a few weeks ago.
All in all, with all of the losses to the NFL Draft and transfer portal in the Longhorns quarterback room, Wright should have an established spot for himself as the third in line next year. That is unless Herman and Yurcich turn to the transfer portal themselves for help at this position entering next offseason.
Early projected 2021 Texas football QB room
Second string: Hudson Card
Technically entering the 2021 college football season the former highly touted four-star dual-threat quarterback recruit Hudson Card will still count as a true freshman in the Longhorns quarterback room. For all intents and purposes, he could be treated as a true or redshirt freshman next season since he didn’t really get any meaningful game snaps this fall.
There were only seven snaps in which Card got game action this season. All seven of those snaps came in the dominant season-opening victory at home back on Sep. 12 over the UTEP Miners by more than a 50 point margin. Three of those seven snaps were designed play calls for Card. He took two of those snaps for rushing attempts, totaling up eight yards.
And the other snap that was a designed play call wound up being an incomplete pass.
Nonetheless, Card brings a lot of raw talent to the table and is a nice fit with both Herman and Yurcich’s offensive scheme. He has a strong arm, really good mobility, and makes smart decisions when throwing on the run (at least from what we know from his high school and camp film). The 6-foot-3 and 195 pound Card was also extremely highly touted coming out of Lake Travis High School in Austin.
He ranked as the nation’s No. 59 2020 high school prospect, No. 2 dual-threat quarterback, and No. 7 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite).
And with his fellow 2020 four-star dual-threat quarterback signee and freshman signal caller Ja’Quinden Jackson putting his name in the transfer portal earlier this month, the backup spot should be all but solidified for Card in spring camp. Jackson landed with the Utah Utes and fellow former Texas quarterback Cameron Rising soon after putting his name into the portal.
Early projected 2021 Texas football QB room
Starter: Casey Thompson
By far the most experienced quarterback remaining on the projected roster for next season for Herman, Yurcich, and the Longhorns is redshirt sophomore dual-threat Casey Thompson. The versatile and agile 6-foot-1 and 200 pound former four-star dual-threat quarterback recruit Thompson is really the only other signal caller fans on the Forty Acres saw snaps out of beside Ehlinger in the last two years.
Thompson has 69 career snaps over the course of the last two seasons under his belt, and a plethora of playing time from the two previous spring games. He’s registered 12 career completions on 19 passing attempts, good for 139 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and no interceptions. Thompson amassed a 63.2 completion percentage, 9.4 adjusted yards per passing attempt, and a 159.3 passer efficiency rating.
To add to that tally, Thompson has 36 career rushing yards on 14 attempts, with one rushing touchdown.
Most of his production in the last two years came this fall. And most of the production this fall came in the dominant season opening win over UTEP a few months back. Thompson hasn’t really made any mistakes from what we’ve seen from him so far. He deserves a legit shot to be the starting quarterback next season.
Coming out of Newcastle High School in Newcastle, OK, Thompson was an integral part of the Longhorns 2018 recruiting class. He signed with the Longhorns as part of a two quarterback class in the 2018 cycle alongside Rising. Thompson ranked as the nation’s No. 291 2018 high school prospect, No. 14 dual-threat quarterback, and No. 6 prospect out of Oklahoma (247Sports Composite).