Quinn Ewers explains offseason development of redshirt freshman QB Maalik Murphy

One year ago, Quinn Ewers beat out Hudson Card for the starting quarterback position at Texas. Following the conclusion of the 2022 season, Card opted to enter into the NCAA transfer portal, taking his talents elsewhere. Doing so made Ewers the quarterback on the Longhorns roster with the most college football in-game experience. It also left a fairly big hole behind the Longhorn starter in the experience department.

With Ewers looking like the bona fide starter for Texas next season, the question becomes who his immediate backup is. Two of the likely candidates to fill that role are true freshman Arch Manning and redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy. Following the Texas spring football game, Ewers gave his thoughts on Murphy’s development over the spring.

“I would say he’s a lot more comfortable than he was last year. We came at the same time, and a year in this system really, really helps you out. I’ve seen him make huge strides in his knowledge of the playbook and knowledge of the defenses. And I’m excited for his future too; he’s in a great spot right now,” said Ewers.

Murphy was a highly recruited quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class out of Gardena, CA, according to On3’s Industry Rankings. Overall, the former four-star quarterback was the No. 12 ranked quarterback in his class. Partially for him, joining him on the Longhorns roster was the No. 1 overall rated recruit in the previous class, Quinn Ewers. Ewers decided to return to his home state of Texas after just one season at Ohio State.

This off-season, Murphy was hit with a new competitor for the Texas starting quarterback spot in Arch Manning. Manning is the nephew of two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. And he, like Ewers, is a five-star recruit and sat up top of his class; the Class of 2023. Still, Murphy has not been backing down from the challenge of going up against two quarterbacks who topped their respective classes. All spring, he has been making a strong case that the battle for the Longhorns’ starting quarterback job in 2023 and beyond also includes his name in it.

Murphy may not have gotten much of an opportunity last season, but with Card now out of the picture, he has an opportunity to earn some playing time in 2023, if things go awry. And if he is able to outperform Manning, it could be the California native in the drivers seat for the backup spot.