Why a reclassified Quinn Ewers was ranked ahead of NFL Draft prospects in 2021

When Quinn Ewers reclassified to 2021 out of high school and enrolled at Ohio State, he was the top ranked prospect in the class.

There’s a reason why he was a higher ranked quarterback than the ones who declared for this year’s NFL Draft. Per the On3 Industry, Ewers was ahead of Caleb Williams (No. 2), Drake Maye (No. 8) and JJ McCarthy (No. 9) within the top 10.

On3’s Cody Bellaire joined Andy Staples On3 Tuesday to explain why that was the case. 

“Yeah, I think it goes to the arm talent, right,” Bellaire said. “There’s certain things you can’t teach at the quarterback position. And it’s truly in the juice of the arm, right? Like there’s certain throws that you have to make at the NFL level, and especially in the windows. 

“That’s always the thing that I think you hear teams talk about and hear coaches talk about in these meetings in these buildings, is you have to be able to make the tight window throws, you have to be able to drive the ball at every level of the field. And I think there’s certain things that Quinn Ewers was able to show at his time in high school that even at an early age, he is older for that class, so physically he is ready.” 

Ewers was older for his grade, so the reclassification made some sense. He practically skipped his senior year of high school to go to Ohio State.

Ewers would later transfer after a year to go to Texas and is now set to enter his third year as a starter.

“I mean he was physically ready and technically should have been a senior in that class, so that reclassification, technically got them lined up with his peers from an age perspective,” Bellaire said. “So it’s not like this was a young kid that still needed to really physically grow into his frame and all that stuff. No, he was already there. And from an arm talent perspective, he was as good as anyone in the country. 

“I think Caleb Williams is the elite. I think Ewers is right behind him from an arm talent perspective. And that’s just something coaches can’t teach. So you have to value that and that’s something that I think Ewers was able to show especially now, as he’s getting more comfortable with the offense. I think that’s something you simply can’t teach.”

Leading Texas to the College Football Playoff last season, Ewers finished with 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 69% completion percentage.

As a member of the Class of 2021, Ewers was a five-star recruit out of Southlake (Texas) Carroll, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 1 quarterback in the class and the No. 1 overall prospect in the class.