JD PicKell: Breaking down the current state of Texas quarterback battle

Hudson Card has performed so well throughout the offseason that he’s played himself into a potential role as the Texas Longhorns‘ starting quarterback for the 2022 season – even after former Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Quinn Ewers transferred into the team from Ohio State this offseason.

Sarkisian has previously stated that he doesn’t want his quarterbacks splitting minuted over the course of the season, which means whoever wins the job outright could be the guy in Austin for the entirety of 2022.

On3’s JD PicKell discussed Card’s rising stock and more on a recent episode of the Hard Count on the On3 YouTube page.

“Here’s a quarterback race that is probably most surprising to talk about right now. Like if you were to talk about the Texas Longhorns, the phrase, ‘quarterback competition,’ doesn’t really come to mind, doesn’t really fit as well if you were looking at the camp two weeks ago,” PicKell said. “But by most accounts, Hudson Card has looked really, really solid these last few weeks in Austin, or at least in the past couple scrimmages.

CLICK HERE to subscribe to the On3 YouTube channel today for all of the latest news on college football, recruiting, NIL, more!

“They like what they have right now with Hudson Card right now. They feel like he’s right in the thick of it. Steve Sarkisian describe the competition right now as ‘tight and healthy.’ Saying essentially, ‘yeah, it’s close, But ultimately, we’re letting both of these guys better. Said he’s talked about them individually about where they stand at the competition.”

Sarkisian was asked whether or not anyone has done anything to outright win the quarterback battle – and the Texas headman said neither has. That is something, according to PicKell, that should be more than enough motivation for Ewers to secure the starting job this season.

“You can look at it and say Quinn Ewers hasn’t taken the job by the throat, he hasn’t come into Austin and be all that we thought he would be. That’s a bummer. We didn’t hit on Quinn Ewers like we thought we would,” PicKell said. “Or, you can look at the other side of this and say, ‘Wow, Hudson Card, a guy who – let’s call it what it was – ended up losing his starting job last year to Casey Thompson for poor play, is now going toe-to-toe with our five star transfer quarterback.

“It wouldn’t be the strangest thing ever have Hudson car takes a jump to this year from 2021 to 2022 … So I think what you have to do is just take a good look at what you have in your quarterback room and say. ‘Okay, great. We have two guys that are making it hard on this coaching staff and competition is ultimately allowing the cream to eventually rise to the top.”