Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers has been tearing it up in training camp. He’s turning heads and fins with tight window bullets and deep-ball rainbows.
“Quinn Ewers is doing great,” head coach Mike McDaniel said. “You can tell there is a personality trait within him that (his) teammates gravitate to.”
The Dolphins announced on Aug. 6 that Ewers would enter the season as the third-string quarterback behind sixth-year starter Tua Tagovailoa and former wonderboy-turned-journeyman backup Zach Wilson. Now, as the 2025 NFL preseason approaches, the former Longhorn faces an uphill battle as he looks to climb the depth chart.
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“I’m playing faster each and every day,” Ewers said. “It’s cool getting to see just day in and day out how much, whether I improve or how much I’m able to learn from my mistakes.”
Just a year prior, Ewers was gearing up for his redshirt junior season at Texas, looking to justify Heisman predictions and a first-round projection for the 2025 NFL Draft. What followed was a campaign full of highs, lows and injuries.
Ewers finished the season with 3,472 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions on a 65.8% completion rate. His performance was undoubtedly strong, but not quite the ironclad statement Texas fans had hoped for. Many felt prodigy backup Arch Manning would be better suited to run the high-speed offense. Still, the team stuck with Ewers all the way to the College Football Playoff Semifinal.
“Ewers’ arm talent and game flashes are enticing,” said NFL analyst Lance Zierlein. “But he hasn’t learned to play the game with a high enough level of consistency.”
Come April, the Dolphins scooped him up in round seven of the draft as a depth piece. Now, with training camp well underway, it seems Ewers’ choice to keep his legacy intact is finally beginning to pay off.
Throughout the first few days of camp, videos of Ewers firing sharp throws began to gain traction. One clip surfaced of him placing a ball just over the outstretched arms of the cornerback into the hands of his receiver on the sideline. Another showcased him rolling out of the pocket and throwing 25 yards downfield to the tight end. Soon, Ewers was flooding feeds of football fans everywhere.
“I think Quinn has been balling,” Tagovailoa said after a day at camp. “I think he’s been buying into what he’s been told in the quarterback room.”
Dolphins fans, who’ve been tormented by mediocrity and a quarterback who faces constant concussion issues in recent years, have found great joy in seeing Ewers show out. Suddenly, a world where Ewers is leading Miami back to relevancy doesn’t seem so fantastical.
Still, there’s much work to be done. McDaniel doesn’t envision the order of the quarterbacks changing on the depth chart thus far, but he does see value in Ewers.
“Quinn’s the type of person that is every day trying to make that a real competition,” he said. “Right now, it’s not like that in my mind. But I’m very candid about being open to anything that the players tell me with actions, not words.”
With the Dolphins’ preseason beginning this Sunday, the former Longhorn has a chance to put McDaniel and the rest of the league on notice.
“I went through a lot in my career at Texas — whether that be injuries or other things like that,” Ewers said. “But I think that I wouldn’t trade anything because it made me who I am today.”