As the NFL draft wore on into the late rounds this past weekend, there were a few notable absences from the names being called. Though everyone was talking about Shedeur Sanders's precipitous fall from a possible top overall pick to the fifth round, this masked something closer to home for A&M fans.
There were Texas fans talking this offseason about how many first round picks they could potentially put into the draft. While the Longhorns certainly sent their fair share of players into the draft overall, their number of first-rounders was three, tying the Aggies' recent best when Jake Mathews, Mike Evans, and Johnny Manziel were all selected.
Two of the names that you would often hear mentioned in the aforementioned offseason, though, were Quinn Ewers and Isaiah Bond. The quarterback and receiver duo were thought to be a sure thing to go early in the draft— but when all was said and done, Ewers went in the seventh round, and Bond went undrafted.
What Texas A&M football fans can learn from Ewers and Bond's draft fall
What do these two guys have in common? They were both transfers into a Texas offensive system that is made out to be elite, likely thinking that they would be able to improve their draft stock if they did so. In reality, it did nothing of the sort.
There hasn't been a lot of discourse about this fact, but the Texas offense last year was really not all that great. It was fine, but the defense is what carried the Longhorns last season. Bond's addition in particular was thought to be a huge coup to put Texas over the top after some similarly disappointing results in 2023, but as John Mitchell of our sister site Bama Hammer outlined yesterday, that didn't work out well for him or for Texas.
Of course, Bond's draft stock was complicated by a recent off-the-field issue, but even before those allegations came to light, he was still far outside of an early-round selection.
Ewers's story, on the other hand, deserves a little more attention as well. The former perfectly-rated quarterback coming out of high school was apparently ruined by his tenure at Texas to such a degree that he went only a few picks ahead of the infamous "Mr. Irrelevant." That's a fall from grace if I've ever seen one.
If Sark is the offensive whisperer he is supposed to be, then how did Ewers's tenure go so awry? What does this say about the future of Arch Manning, who had the exact same rating as Quinn coming out of high school even though he himself was far less proven on the field?
These are questions that aren't getting enough attention, and they should inform those viewers who look at the Longhorns with any semblance of a critical eye next year. But the larger picture is this: transfers to a school where a system will purportedly showcase your talent better— or where you can be more of "the guy"— are not guaranteed to work out.
We've seen the Aggies have some of these transfers this offseason, even. Noah Thomas is a name that jumps to mind in that regard.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence, folks— and it's becoming more and more evident that such a statement is particularly true when it comes to Austin, Texas.