Can Texas QB Maalik Murphy push Hudson Card for the backup job?

While the talk of the town on the Forty Acres for most of the spring so far for the Texas football program is the former elite five-star recruit and Ohio State Buckeyes freshman transfer quarterback Quinn Ewers. As the presumed favorite to eventually win the starting job at the quarterback position by the time fall comes around, it makes sense that it seems like all Texas fans want to talk about right now is Ewers.

Yet, second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff are still focused on building out an effective quarterback room this spring beyond Ewers. Texas has a ton of talent in this quarterback room. Sark and the Longhorns just need to effectively develop at least a couple of the former blue-chips at the quarterback position on the current roster.

And one of the most promising young quarterbacks in the mix for Texas this year is the former four-star recruit and true freshman early enrollee Maalik Murphy. As the lone quarterback signee among high school recruits in the Longhorns 2022 class, Murphy has a lot of hype following him onto the Forty Acres.

It just so happens that he arrives as part of the same signing class as Ewers. That tends to overshadow the arrival of Murphy a bit on campus this spring.

Texas football freshman QB Maalik Murphy making a great impression since his spring debut in practice

However, Murphy had some hurdles to get over early this spring before he could really hit his stride in camp. Murphy arrived on campus in a walking boot as he was dealing with a broken foot.

But he was able to work his way back into the mix pretty fast to be able to start getting reps in practice. It was roughly one week ago that Murphy really started getting up and running in spring practice. And most indications are pointing to a solid start for him getting full-on reps in spring camp in the last week or so.

There are times when we actually hear Murphy is looking so impressive that he could soon challenge for the backup job. While it seems like Murphy is a long way away at the moment from truly challenging rising junior quarterback Hudson Card for the backup job, that narrative could shift this fall.

If Murphy continues making strides the way he has in the last few days of spring practice, expect Sark and his staff to really consider getting him some backup reps by the time fall camp arrives. He’s showing a lot of the early signs necessary to push for that in the next few months.

Moreover, it sounds like Murphy is also becoming vocal enough to gain the attention needed to make his way up the two-deep depth chart in the quarterback room by this fall. A report from Horns247. (paid content) on April 14 indicates that Murphy is often the most vocal of all the quarterbacks in the locker room this spring.

Considering the fact that the Longhorns have really needed a more vocal leader at the quarterback position since last offseason, this is promising news. Murphy generating positive energy in the locker room and helping his teammates become more vocal will have a great impact on this team moving forward.

All in all, I personally wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if Murphy does end up challenging Card for the backup quarterback job this fall. In all likelihood, he’s got a brighter future in this quarterback room as it now feels like Card’s time has already passed.

That’s definitely not fair to Card, but it’s just the reality of this situation as it stands now with the future of the quarterback room at the moment sitting with the likes of Ewers and Murphy.

Texas officially began spring practice back on March 22. And we’re now a little more than one week away from the Orange-White spring football game, which is set to take place on April 23 at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.