Texas Football: 5 most imperative Longhorns players for 2023 season

1. Quinn Ewers, QB

While I don’t necessarily think that Ewers will be the best player for the Longhorns this coming season, he is clearly one of the most important. Ewers will have more pressure on his shoulders to lead the way for the offense this fall, especially upon the departures of junior All-American running back Bijan Robinson and versatile senior Roschon Johnson.

Last season, Ewers had Bijan to turn to in the backfield to efficiently move the chains for the Longhorns. Ewers will now be looked to be the one that methodically and effectively moves the ball down the field for Texas in the passing game.

Ewers will have a lot of the tools at his disposal needed to find success on a more consistent basis this fall. Sark and the Longhorns staff did a nice job upgrading the supporting cast for Ewers, adding key players such as Mitchell and true freshman wide receiver Johntay Cook II. It also looks like Ewers will have a healthy weapon on the boundary in the 6-foot-3 Neyor.

In the Alamo Bowl, Ewers showed the strides he made down the stretch during his freshman campaign. He put together his most complete game of the season, throwing for more than 350 yards while not turning the ball over a single time.

Ewers needs to show some of that composure and consistency he put on display throwing from the pocket in the Alamo Bowl.

The good news is that we’ve heard a lot of positive feedback regarding the strides Ewers made so far this offseason as a leader of this offense and as a more composed presence in the pocket during the spring.

If Ewers is able to hold up more effectively under pressure while improving his stat line to around 20+ passing touchdowns with interceptions in the single digits (at a minimum), he’ll put Texas in a position to compete for a Big 12 title in 2023.