“He doesn’t elevate anybody”: Shannon Sharpe pins the blame on Quinn Ewers for Texas’ semifinal loss against Ohio State

Quarterback Quinn Ewers and the Texas Longhorns lost their CFP semifinal matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday. They lost the game 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl after the Buckeyes scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull ahead.

After the game, former NFL players Shannon Sharpe and Chad 'Ocho' Johnson released an episode of their podcast, 'Nightcap.'

In the episode, they started by talking about Quinn Ewers and his performance. Sharpe talked about how he thinks Ewers is nothing more than an average quarterback and does not do anything to elevate his teammates (0:45).

"I hate, look, you and I don't really sit down and break down film to evaluate players properly," Sharpe said. "But I know what my eyes tell me. For the evaluaters to have Quinn Ewers evaluated so high, he doesn't do anything to elevate anybody. It's the players around him. I mean he's missing throws.

"That game, it's 14-14, a guy runs a little square out, he over sails him. Bro that's a routine throw. If you can't make that throw with no pressure, what throw can you make? For me I just look at him as average."

Despite drawing criticism from Shannon Sharpe, Ewers still had a performance that was on par, if not better than Ohio State quarterback Will Howard. Ewers completed 23 of 39 passes for 283 yards, two TDs and one interception. Conversely, Howard completed 24 of 33 passes for 289 yards, one TD and one interception.

Football world awaits Quinn Ewers' decision to enter the 2025 NFL draft

With the Texas Longhorns' season over, quarterback Quinn Ewers must now make his decision regarding the 2025 NFL draft. He still has one season of NCAA eligibility left, but the Longhorns will likely start Arch Manning next season. As a result, if Ewers wants to return to college to improve his draft stock, he will need to transfer.

Before the game, Ewers did not state definitively whether he will enter the 2025 NFL draft, simply saying, "we'll see." However, ESPN reported that sources close to Ewers reiterated that there is an "overwhelming likelihood" that he will enter the 2025 NFL draft.

If he declares, Ewers will be a divisive prospect. Some NFL executives and scouts view him as a top-100 pick, whereas others view him outside that range. Despite, Shannon Sharpe's doubts, Ewers put up good numbers in the CFP, so his draft stock likely increased.