Quinn Ewers heaps praise on CJ Baxter's mindset, ability at Big 12 Media Day

The Texas Longhorns are taking part in what will be their last Big 12 Media Days event, as they are off to the SEC next season. Still, Texas is well represented at the event, which is taking place at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, TX. One of the individuals that the team over at ESPN caught up to was Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers, who is heading into his second season as the starting quarterback for the team.

Ewers discuss a number of topics on the state of the Texas program and himself as they prepare for their final season in the Big 12. But the Longhorn caller also had an opportunity to give praise on one of the program’s key additions of the offseason. When asked about what he has seen from true freshman running back CJ Baxter Jr. since the Florida native stepped on campus, Ewers did not hold back and praised his new teammate on his mindset entering the Longhorns program.

“Yeah, I think he came in with the mindset of playing this year. I can definitely tell he’s athletic, (and) he can catch out of the backfield; he can do all the things a running back at Texas should be able to do. That running back depth is crazy. We have a lot of great backs in there. But no, Cedric is a great player,” said Ewers.

Baxter taking over for Bijan Robinson

Replacing the production of Bijan Robinson will be a challenging task for Texas. There is a reason why he is widely considered the best running back prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft and ended up being selected eighth overall. Robinson was a nightmare for opposing defenses, not only running the ball but also catching the ball out of the backfield and when lining up as a receiver. Last season Robinson had a monster year rushing for 1,580 yards on 258 attempts and 18 touchdowns. He also had 19 receptions for 314 yards and two receiving touchdowns.

Still, if anybody it’s capable of Robinson in the long run offense, it is Baxter. Baxter left his home state of Florida, which has several programs that would have loved to have his services on the field, to team up with Ewers in Texas. According to On3’s Industry Rankings, the Orlando, FL, native was the nation’s top recruit at running back and was the No. 30 player in the 2023 recruiting class.