Quarterback Quinn Ewers, ranked as the No. 1 or No. 2 prospect in his class, has decided to forego his senior year of high school to enroll early at Ohio State (Twitter link). Ewers is now set to enroll at Ohio State this fall, accelerating his potential timeframe for the NFL Draft by a year. For now, he’ll vie with C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller, and Kyle McCord for playing time.
“I’ve taken time to think about what lies ahead of me, both in the short- and long-term,” said the Texas high school standout. “It’s unfortunate I’ve found myself in this situation, as my preference would have been to complete my senior season at Southlake Carroll along with the teammates and friends I’ve taken the field alongside for the past three years. However, following conversations with my family and those I know have my best interests in mind, I’ve decided it’s time for me to enroll at Ohio State and begin my career as a Buckeye.”
To be eligible for the NFL draft, players must be at least three years removed from high school. Of course, nothing is guaranteed for any 18-year-old prospect — no matter how good they are — but the 6’3″ signal caller is already on the radar for pro scouts. Previously, he would have been on track for the 2025 NFL Draft, at the earliest. Now, he could go pro as soon as 2024.
As a high school athlete, Ewers cannot profit off of his name. However, thanks to the NCAA’s revised rules, he’ll be able to earn money for his name, likeness, and image. According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, that could net Ewers as much as $1MM in 2022. Beyond Ewers, it’s a potential game changer for college and pro prospects on the whole. Now, there’s extra incentive to enroll early, enjoy the fruits of college fame, and, by extension, enter the NFL sooner.
Hopefully he finishes his degree at Ohio State or has a good football career
And perhaps he bombs and is an example for why kids need to slow down a tad. Going from a high school junior to immediately thinking of a career in a sport like football is reckless.
Let’s not be placing the blame on these highly impressionable kids. It’s almost always the parents or other adults that encourage unrealistic expectations and fail to educate on what other alternatives are available.
The report I read was he is just one class short of high school graduation. Seems like a smart kid.
How can that be? This is high school. I don’t remember being able to pick up extra credits so I could graduate early.
Graduating early has been common practice for a few decades. Usually though a a kid can have enough credits to enroll in college 1 semester early, i.e. spring of their senior year of HS. if he has enough to graduate a year early he seems like a smart kid.
Most of the times you put up a college class and use it as a credit or AP classes count for extra.
If he makes a million dollars or close to it as a freshman in college, even if he is somehow a bust and drops out, he’ll be ahead of 95% or more of the population. It takes the average college grad more than 20 years to make a million dollars total.
He’ll be fine.
How does this work? Did he have enough credits to graduate high school early?
that would be my guess, or got his GED like Bryce Harper
I really think this hurts his development. Does he really have a shot at starting his freshman year? If not then wouldn’t it be better, development wise, to play out his senior year?
But can’t argue if he can earn a couple mil and his pro career doesn’t work out.
With all the garbage time he’ll get go play in at OSU I’m sure he will get the chance to adapt to the speed of college ball
This is for NIL! Grabbing the money bag early.
I know I’ll get bashed for this, but somehow I think that kids being handed a million dollars and turning immediately from a teenage human being into a marketable brand is a bad development for everyone except sports agencies.
But hey, anything to support the poor enslaved college athletes, right? Even if this hurts them too?
My family lives in a suburb home, nothing special. If either of my kids could earn $1m at 18 for playing sports, I couldn’t tell them no. Heck I would have done it 1992.
I would hope people have more respect for a Marine who served his country than someone who got $1m for playing with a football.
I’ve never seen a card from any military person that sold for millions! It is what it is. I’m proud of my time and happy to watch and comment on sports. I appreciate your continued support.
But if my 15 year old daughter could be worth $1m in 3 years because of sports, what am I to say ‘no’? In any smaller city, that’s your home paid off and a few rentals paid off as well for cash flow. Hard to beat or argue.
Good for her that she could earn that, but how would that affect her development of personal skills or character? Maybe she’d be fine. Some people are.
But ten years from now, when kids getting million dollar handouts in high school is everyday and commonplace, how is someone else supposed to convince their kid the values of working hard or having good personal character outside of the sport? Why work hard at academics or non-sport interests if you’re getting millions at age 17 (or earlier)? Why even listen to your parents if an agent shows up with an offer? This just takes even more power out of families’ hands and puts in agents’ hands, while acting like we’ve saved kids from evil colleges who were the only ones preying on their poor innocent souls. Sure, the colleges could have done better, but they’re not worse than the agents. I don’t see this boding well for the future of college sports or society at large. But hey, money is the only important thing…
Let me be clear, I’m not saying that you’re offering an opposite point of view, arty, not at all. I should have said that when I posted. Sorry for that. I’m just talking about my fear of what this will mean effectively for college athletics and individual families.
I could not agree more. Whatever happened to having to pay your dues and earn your stripes? These kids good enough to get a scholarship are already being handed everything and are coddled to point of absurdity, SMH.
There were cavemen that complained that the kids had it too easy because the wheel had been invented. Every generation thinks it had it tougher than the more recent generation. This is a universal constant.
Sure. It’s not always bad, but sometimes true. I’m not high on the potential outcome here, obviously.
True, it is a universal constant, but Universities constantly abusing the system has led to this, which I don’t think is a good solution. It’s always all about the money from every interested party’s perspective, colleges, agents, high school kids, and now, many times the parents. Until that changes, and I don’t think it ever will, greed is going to be the determining factor.
I’m so lost how does he get to forego his senior year of high school to start college did he have the required amount of credits to graduate or is he dropping out to get his GED
He finished high school this summer by completing one credit. He starts classes at Ohio State this fall.
Kid’s making one of the dumbest mistakes of his lifetime. He’s throwing his future away to be the QB at one of the worst schools in history. All of the QBs ever to come out of OSU have gone on to be busts and I do mean, all, unfortunately because it’s the OSU QB curse. Even the most recent one is already a proven bust.
One of the worst schools in the country? Bust because people that went there years before playing with different players and coached by different coaches with different playbooks means this kid will be a bust as well? OMG…why would anyone ever want to be a QB at OSU? SMH…
Who’s watching him play at Texas in the sugar bowl. Safe to say he’s panned out at college