Texas Football: Is Maalik Murphy a better fit than Quinn Ewers?

The impact that the 2022 Texas football recruiting class is about to get after landing a huge commitment from the elite five-star Junipero Serra pro-style quarterback Maalik Murphy is untold. Texas got a really nice boost on the recruiting trail this weekend after not only landing a commitment from the ultra highly touted Murphy, but also underrated three-star Arlington-Martin inside linebacker Trevell Johnson.

What is likely the biggest news on the recruiting trail for the Longhorns since the detrimental day more than four months ago where they lost a commitment from the elite five-star Southlake Carroll pro-style quarterback Quinn Ewers arrived on Feb. 13 with the pledge of Murphy. Landing Ewers was massive for now former fourth-year Texas head coach Tom Herman back during the 2020 offseason.

But losing the commitment of Ewers also likely went a long way to costing Herman his job in the end. And the subsequent hiring of the former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and reigning Broyles Award winner Steve Sarkisian looks to be working out well on the Forty Acres so far.

It didn’t take too long after the Longhorns lost the commitment of Ewers that he essentially wound up flipping to give his pledge to head coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes. That was really detrimental to the Longhorns since they’ve seen a plethora of in-state football talent leave to join other blue bloods like Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, etc.

But there wasn’t much more that Sark and his new look coaching staff could do to provide a spark for their 2022 class this offseason than getting the second highest rated pro-style quarterback prospect for this recruiting cycle. Not only is Murphy a huge cornerstone piece that the Longhorns can build around in their 2022 class, he’s the lone five-star commit at this point in time.

At the time of Ewers’ commitment, he was also the lone five-star prospect in that class.

This is a theme building for the Longhorns that they can establish a real foundation around. In the last few weeks alone, Texas has landed key commitments from the likes of the California native Murphy and the highly coveted four-star Klein Cain running back Jaydon Blue.

What Murphy brings for the 2022 Texas football class

The skill positions are starting to look very dangerous for Sark and the Longhorns in this building 2022 class.

But the real emerging question for the Longhorns in the 2022 class is what kind of replacement can Murphy be for this group?

If he is in fact a better scheme fit for the Longhorns offensive scheme under Sark’s direction than Ewers would be, then Murphy could wind up being better for the direction of the program as a whole in the end than the other five-star signal caller. Murphy is certainly a more elusive and athletic passer outside of the pocket than Ewers. There’s also points when watching his film where he looks to have a stronger arm than Ewers.

The problem when trying to give the edge to Murphy over Ewers is that his deep ball isn’t as refined, and hitting the intermediate and outside routes doesn’t look as seamless for him. Nonetheless, Murphy and Ewers both are great quarterback talents, and each are special players in their own right.

Sark will get to build around Murphy different than he would have Ewers. And the excitement already looks to be building for this skill position group in the Longhorns 2022 class. They now have three very talented blue chip skill position commits in the mix.

Murphy individually ranks as the nation’s No. 30 2022 high school prospect, No. 2 pro-style quarterback, and No. 4 prospect out of California (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 62 high school prospect, No. 3 pro-style quarterback, and No. 5 prospect out of California.

Meanwhile, Ewers ranks as the nation’s top overall 2022 high school prospect in the 247Sports Composite and the Top247.

Moreover, Murphy chose to give his commitment to Texas over offers from 30 other schools. The other highlighting schools on his offer sheet included the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia, LSU Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State, Oregon Ducks, Penn State Nittany Lions, Texas A&M Aggies, and USC Trojans.

Now that they hold a true cornerstone commit in the 2022 recruiting class, Sark and the Longhorns can now continue their quest to real in a top five ranked group in the entire country. Texas didn’t have the greatest run at things through National Signing Day earlier this month for the 2021 class.

The good news for Sark and the Longhorns is that they are firmly moving in the right direction with their 2022 class. According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2022 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 7 in the nation and in the second spot in the Big 12 behind the Oklahoma Sooners.