ARLINGTON, Texas — Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers told ESPN that he expects to enter the NFL draft whenever Texas’ 2024 season ends.

In an interview with ESPN’s “College GameDay” prior to the Longhorns’ appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Ewers responded “yes” when asked directly if he expects to play in the NFL next season.

Ewers didn’t make a definitive declaration, as he couched his comments by saying, “We’ll see.” He did add that he doesn’t expect to play college football next season.

Sources close to Ewers reiterated to ESPN that the “overwhelming likelihood” is that Ewers will declare for the NFL draft. Heading into 2023, that had been the plan for Ewers.

But injuries slowed him in that season, and he and his camp decided that not having 25 starts could hurt his long-term development. (NFL data shows that’s a line of demarcation for quarterback development.)

Ewers is a fourth-year senior who began his career at Ohio State after skipping his senior year of high school at Southlake Carroll in the Dallas area. He played sparingly for the Buckeyes, Texas’ opponent in the Cotton Bowl Friday night, and has gone 27-8 overall in his Longhorns career.

The game against Ohio State will mark his 36th career start, and he’s 21-4 the past two years, leading Texas in both seasons to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. For his career, Ewers has thrown for 8,845 yards, 66 touchdowns and completed 65.1% of his passes.

Ewers said he hadn’t seen rumors that he’d potentially transfer from Texas for a lucrative offer at another school.

“Haven’t even paid attention to it,” he said. “I’m not really sure what’s going on.”

Ewers projects as a divisive prospect in this upcoming draft, as one general manager told ESPN that he sees Ewers as a top-100 pick but admitted there’s a “wild variance” within his scouting department on Ewers’ NFL projection.

Another NFL executive predicted that Ewers is considered outside the top 100 now but has a chance to help himself during the process by working out for coaching staffs and doing chalk talk. Playing three seasons for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will help Ewers in the eyes of coaches, thanks in part to Sarkisian’s NFL experience and the fact that he runs a more complex system than most college coaches.

NFL coaches don’t enter the scouting process until this time of year when their season has ended.

“Coaches will likely like him a lot more than scouts,” an NFL executive said.

Ewers has delivered signature wins at both Alabama in 2023 and Michigan this season. He had injury issues in both 2023 and 2024 and some inconsistency, as Ewers has thrown five interceptions in the past four games.

In 2024, he has thrown 29 touchdown passes and earned second-team All-SEC honors.