Inside Texas Today: And the other quarterbacks?
Welcome to Inside Texas Today! Every weekday, Inside Texas Today will provide the latest from around the Forty Acres. This morning, a check-in regarding quarterbacks not named Hudson Card or Quinn Ewers, and a look at former Longhorn Bryce Elder’s MLB debut.
Here’s the Wednesday, April 13, 2022 edition.
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“With the other guys, it’s just about consistency.”
Significant focus this spring has been placed on the state of play between Hudson Card and Quinn Ewers in the race to be Texas’ starting quarterback come the fall. But there are four other quarterbacks on the roster, and members of that quartet are vying for their place likely behind Ewers and Card on the depth chart.
Ben Ballard, Charles Wright, Cole Lourd, and Maalik Murphy all are going through spring drills in AJ Milwee’s position group. Ewers and Card have been ahead of that group on the depth chart for the majority of the spring.
However, one player who has seemingly risen in the quarterback ranks is early enrollee Maalik Murphy. Despite often hobbling on the field as a result of his offseason ankle surgery, Murphy was third in the quarterback pecking order in the portion of Tuesday’s practice open to the media. That’s a multi-spot surge from his previous sixth-of-six position.
“Since last Tuesday, Maalik has gradually gotten back into the fold,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Tuesday. “There’s obviously a little hesitation in him, and it would be for me too if I had to have ankle surgery, screws removed, and those types of things. But you see the natural arm talent. You see the natural kind of instincts of passing the football, and that’s been positive. I think we’ll get a lot out of him here over the last five practices, which is important.”
What about the others, Ballard, Wright, and Lourd?
“With the other guys, it’s just about consistency,” Sarkisian said. “It’s about trust in themselves. We need to be better in the back end of that quarterback room. We’re not where we need to be from a developmental standpoint, but that’s our job to try to get them there.”
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Bryce Elder shines in MLB debut
Former Longhorn right-hander Bryce Elder was selected by the Atlanta Braves with one of the final picks in the shortened 2020 MLB draft. On Tuesday, Elder became the first player coached by David Pierce at Texas to make it to the major leagues.
Elder earned his first career victory in the start, allowing three earned runs on six hits in 5.2 innings while striking out four. He received a considerable amount of run support from his teammates, and a considerable amount of support from Atlanta fans at Truist Park. When he was removed from the game in the sixth, those in attendance gave him a standing ovation.
After Texas’ 13-2 win on Tuesday over Stephen F. Austin, Pierce spoke about what Elder’s debut meant to the program.
“It’s great for our program,” Pierce said. “He’s a great ambassador of our program. He was a guy that came in, how’s he going to do? And he just continued to develop, and took the Friday night role his sophomore year after a really average freshman year.”
“When you look at recruiting, huge. But development, the type of kid he is, his work-ethic, and having an athletic mind — I think his golf plays big in how he pitches. He’s a scratch golfer. I think the repeatability of his swing works with the repeatability of his delivery because it’s one of the simplest deliveries I’ve ever coached. I pretty much gave him the ball and got out of the way.”
“So awesome for the program, but really proud and happy for Bryce.”
